The European Space Agency (ESA) has recognised Sener’s contribution to the MetOp Second Generation (MetOp-SG) mission, one of the most ambitious meteorological programmes developed in Europe. The “ESA Excellence Award as subcontractor” was presented at ESA’s European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, during Industry Space Days 2026, one of the leading business-to-business events for Europe’s space industry.

In addition to Sener’s specific contribution to MetOp-SG, the award recognises a track record spanning more than two decades in space radiometry. This discipline, which is essential to Earth observation, presents some of the most demanding challenges in radio frequency engineering, owing to the extreme precision and stability required to measure very weak signals originating from the Earth’s surface and atmosphere.

The development of this technological capability dates back to Sener’s involvement in SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity), a pioneering mission designed to measure soil moisture and ocean salinity from space. The work carried out at the time enabled the company to build key expertise in technologies critical to radiometry, including ultra-low-noise amplifiers and detection systems capable of measuring extremely weak signals with high levels of accuracy and stability. Building on this foundation, Sener consolidated a specialist expertise that would later prove instrumental to its involvement in MetOp-SG, the European meteorological programme designed to ensure the continuity of atmospheric and climate observations over the coming decades.

As part of MetOp-SG, Sener has taken on significant responsibilities for the Back-End Modules of the three radiometers carried by the constellation: MWS (Microwave Sounder), MWI (Microwave Imager) and ICI (Ice Cloud Imager). These instruments process and condition the signals captured by the antennas before converting them into scientific data that can be used by meteorological services. The Back-End Modules developed by Sener are among the mission’s most demanding radio frequency systems. Their design has required exceptional levels of precision and stability to measure extremely weak signals originating from the Earth’s atmosphere.

To meet these requirements, Sener’s engineering teams have developed specialised calibration and measurement capabilities that enable linearity levels below 0.1%, together with advanced thermal compensation mechanisms that maintain stable performance despite temperature variations. In addition, the strict mass and power consumption constraints inherent to spaceborne instruments required the development of microwave monolithic integrated circuits (MMICs) specifically designed for this application.

These developments bring together specialist expertise in radio frequency engineering, integrated circuit design, thermal stability, high-precision calibration and radiometric instrumentation. These are complex technological capabilities that Sener has built up and refined over more than 20 years.

The ESA recognition comes at a time of continued activity for Sener in this field. The expertise gained continues to be applied to the development of new generations of radiometric instruments for Earth observation, helping to strengthen Europe’s capabilities to monitor the climate, oceans, cryosphere and atmosphere.

The award recognises Sener’s contribution to the MetOp-SG programme while also highlighting a strategic technological capability for Europe. From its initial developments for SMOS to its current contributions to Europe’s most advanced meteorological and Earth observation programmes, Sener has helped advance a technology that is essential to improving our understanding of our planet and how it is changing.