PRESS RELEASE

SENER and ESA reach an agreement for the prime contractor role on phases C/D and E1 of the Proba-3 mission

Farnborough (United Kingdom), July 14, 2014 - The engineering and technology group SENER has reached an agreement with the (ESA) for the prime contractor role on phases C/D and E1 of the Proba-3 space mission. This agreement took place at the Agency’s headquarters in Paris by ESA’s Technical and Quality Management Director, Franco Ongaro, and SENER's Space Director, Diego Rodríguez.

The agreement to execute the C/D and E1 phases has been entered after a long work preparation period for SENER, which participates in the Proba-3 mission since 2007, when the bridging phase started to consolidate the initial project studies (phase A). By then, the company already led the team that was responsible for the formation flying management and the guidance, navigation and control (GNC) system. Finally, after the definitive approval of the program, SENER was appointed as prime contractor responsible for the entire mission.

Proba-3’s objective is the in-orbit demonstration of high-precision formation flying technology. This is a complex mission both from technological and programmatic points of view, which requires the participation of many space companies from , Belgium and at least 10 other nations.

After concluding the agreement, Diego Rogríguez stressed that “this contract represents an opportunity for ESA’s medium-sized country members, such as Spain and Belgium, to develop complete systems and missions, so that their industry is technologically empowered in areas which are not usually accessible for them”. He also highlighted that “the formation flying technology will undoubtedly be one of most important technologies in the next decade, since it will allow the deployment of large virtual structures in space, increasing our possibilities in many areas, especially in Earth Science and Observation”.

Formation flying consists of two or more satellites orbiting in coordination, maintaining very precise relative distances and orientations. This allows, for example, to produce a space telescope, whose essential features (lens and detectors) can be separated hundreds of meters, whilst maintaining their stable relative position. This would avoid the penalization or volume and mass limitations imposed by launchers on possible large deployable structures to be placed in orbit.

Being a technology demonstration mission, Proba-3 will consist of two mini-satellites, the Coronograph and the Occulter, which will be placed in a highly eccentric orbit around the Earth. Various experimental maneuvers and measurements will be performed to evaluate the benefits of the new algorithms and equipment that this mission requires. It will also be possible to evaluate the precision and stability of these maneuvers in the relative position of both spacecrafts. In addition, the mission will include a coronagraph payload (an instrument inside the Coronograph satellite for analyzing the solar corona) that will benefit from the possibilities provided by Proba-3 by separating the solar occulter disk (integrated in the Occulter satellite) and the instrument by a few dozens of meters.

SENER's responsibility in this program follows many other reference projects such as the Gaia mission, the rover Curiosity, the Rosetta probe and the satellites Seosat / INGENIO, Herschel and Planck, BepiColombo, Solar Orbiter and Meteosat Third Generation, among others. SENER’s success

For more information:

Oihana Casas. Communication. SENER. Tel. (+34) 91 807 73 18 / (+34) 679 31 40 85 www.sener.es

in these programs confirms the company’s leading position as a supplier of engineering and manufacturing services for the space industry in three areas of activity: precision mechanisms, optical payloads and guidance, navigation and control (GNC) systems. With nearly 50 years of experience in Space, SENER has delivered more than 260 equipment units and systems that have been successfully launched in satellites and space vehicles for agencies from the US (NASA), Europe (ESA), (JAXA) and Russia (Roscosmos).

Proba-3 will be presented at SENER's stand at the Farnborough Airshow exhibition that is currently being held in the British town of the same name until July 20. At this meeting, SENER shows electromechanical actuation and control systems, in addition to its global capabilities as a supplier of equipment, systems integration and engineering services in Space, Defense and Aviation.

About SENER SENER is a private engineering and technology group founded in 1956, which seeks to offer its clients state-of-the-art technological solutions and enjoys international recognition thanks to its independence and its commitment to innovation and quality. SENER has a workforce of about 5,500 professionals working in subsidiaries in , , , Chile, China, Colombia, , Japan, , , , , Spain, , United Kingdom and United States. The operating income of the group amounts to 1,218 million Euros (2013 figures).

SENER engages in the specific activities of Engineering and and also holds industrial company shares in firms involved in the field of Energy and Environment, as well as in Aeronautics. In the Engineering & Construction area, SENER has become a global benchmark in the fields of Aerospace, Infrastructures and Transport, Power and Processes and Marine Engineering.

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For more information:

Oihana Casas. Communication. SENER. Tel. (+34) 91 807 73 18 / (+34) 679 31 40 85 www.sener.es