Sener Aeroespacial
Space division of Spain's family-owned Sener Group; developer of the SIROM 4-in-1 robotic servicing interface and the IBDM docking hard-capture system.
Sener Aeroespacial is the aerospace company of the Sener Group (Sener Grupo de Ingenieria), a family-owned Spanish engineering and technology group. Brothers Enrique and Jose Manuel de Sendagorta founded the group in 1956 as the first engineering company registered in Spain, and it is headquartered in Getxo, Bizkaia. Sener has worked in space since 1967. The group says it has delivered more than 10,000 onboard components for over 1,400 satellites and claims a 100% in-orbit success record for its equipment. Its space work covers deployment and pointing mechanisms, antennas, RF systems, GNC (guidance, navigation and control) technologies and electronics, with facilities in Spain and Poland. Sener has supplied hardware to missions including Rosetta, Gaia, Euclid, JUICE, DART, Space Rider and SpainSat NG. It was prime contractor for ESA's Proba-3 formation-flying mission, launched on 5 December 2024. In 2024 the group bought SCR (Sistemas de Control Remoto) to strengthen its remote operation and autonomous navigation business.
Sener describes robotics as a core part of its space innovation work. This includes robotic arms, control systems and autonomous navigation for planetary, orbital and ground use, and its portfolio includes a dextrous arm for the International Space Station. Its flagship robotics product is SIROM (Standard Interface for RObotic Manipulation), developed since 2016. SIROM is an androgynous plug-and-play interface that combines mechanical capture and hard docking, power transfer, high-rate data transfer and, optionally, fluid transfer for refuelling or heat regulation. Guiding petals and high-capture-range latches make it self-aligning, it holds its locked position without brakes or power, and once latched it deploys a connector board. The 2026 SIROM brochure lists three families. SIROM C, at TRL 6, is an electrical version for ground demonstrations with a 1.1 kg active unit, 5 s docking time and up to 1.5 kW by-pass power transfer. SIROM E and SIROM G are flight versions, with SIROM G adding a fluid connector rated to 150 bar. Both are expected to reach TRL 6 in Q4 2026 and support Gigabit Ethernet data links. SIROM has been used in the EU projects MIRROR, ISAAC, EU-RISE, ORU-BOAS, InSPoC-1 and EROSS-IOD. In EROSS-IOD, the Horizon Europe in-orbit servicing demonstrator led by Thales Alenia Space, Sener adapted SIROM as the interface for orbital replacement units and as a refuelling interface based on its RIDER connector.
Sener also developed the Hard Capture System for the International Berthing and Docking Mechanism (IBDM), Europe's androgynous low-impact docking system, for QinetiQ and ESA. The system has 12 independently driven hooks, three separators and two resource transfer umbilicals. Sener was responsible for the separators, umbilicals, the micrometeoroid and orbital debris (MMOD) cover and the ready-to-hook and undocking-complete sensors. The system is compatible with the International Docking System Standard and is intended for the Lunar Gateway's I-HAB module. Sener leads the UMOR consortium, funded by the Basque Government's HAZITEK programme, which develops modular robotic interface components for space, industrial and medical collaborative robots. Other Sener space products include the DTA10 series of thruster-pointing actuators, flying on Airbus Neosat satellites since Hotbird 13F in 2022. It also works on the E.T.PACK-Fly electrodynamic tether for deorbiting, the GNC electrical ground support equipment for the ExoMars descent module, and qualification of the Rosalind Franklin rover landing gear.
Primary type & automation activities this supplier delivers:
SIROM - Standard Interface for Robotic Manipulation
Androgynous robotic interface combining mechanical capture/hard docking, power, Gigabit data and optional 150 bar fluid transfer; used in EROSS-IOD and other EU projects.
IBDM Hard Capture System
Hard Capture System for Europe's IDSS-compatible International Berthing and Docking Mechanism: 12 driven hooks, separators, umbilicals; for QinetiQ/ESA.
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Contact Sener Aeroespacial
WEBSITE
https://www.group.sener/en/markets/space/PHONE
+34 944 817 500HEADQUARTERS
Spain
Company Facts
Founded
-
Primary Role
Manufacturer
Company Size
-
Primary Region
Europe
Annual Sales
-
Funding Stage
Subsidiary / Acquired
Funding Total
-
Keywords
- Sener Aeroespacial
- SIROM
- standard robotic interface
- IBDM Hard Capture System
- EROSS IOD
- Proba-3
- space mechanisms
- GNC systems
- RIDER refuelling connector
- DTA10 actuator
- Manufacturer
- Component Supplier
- End-effector & Grasping
- Motion & Actuation
- Navigation & Positioning
- Aerospace & Space
- Defense & Security
- On Orbit Servicing
- Space Explore
