The partnership between Gilmour Space Technologies and SENER brings a new standard to the global space industry

28th Feb 2022

Australian company, Gilmour Space Technologies, has confirmed that they have entered a partnership with SENER Aeroespacial, a part of the technology group SENER based in the Basque Country, Spain. The aim of the partnership is to develop an autonomous flight termination system for the Eris rocket. It is a smart system with the capacity to make decisions and abort the rocket launch in the event of any anomalies.

As we speak, SENER Aeroespacial is working on the first phase of the project developing the algorithms necessary to identify problems and command aborting the rocket launch if necessary. Both companies expect the prototype to be ready this year before the inaugural rocket launch.

Autonomous Flight Termination

Safety is a critical component for the ever-growing space industry and autonomous flight termination system plays an essential role in it. Before this collaboration, Gilmour Space Technologies developed vehicle management hardware used to deploy AFTS.

When the abnormality is identified, and the rocket becomes unsafe, AFTS secures it through the termination process. That means it will either return to Earth or burn up the second it enters the atmosphere.

International Partnership

Gilmour Space Technologies and SENER Aeroespacial are not the only companies working on those systems. However, they are hoping that their system will be the one that will replace the need for costly legacy systems and manual termination of the rocket launch.

According to Augusto Caramagno, Director of Institutional Programs at SENER, the partnership will show to international space industry that this company is the leader with a competitive advantage in the European market.

For Gilmour Space Technologies, it is an excellent opportunity for expansion to the European market. The company’s CEO, Adam Gilmour, said that given how quickly the project progresses, everyone expects the inaugural rocket launch in the second half of 2022.