Internship Opportunity in the Directorate of Operations.
ESA is an equal opportunity employer, committed to achieving diversity within the workforce and creating an inclusive working environment. We therefore welcome applications from all qualified candidates irrespective of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, beliefs, age, disability or other characteristics. Applications from women are encouraged.
Location Darmstadt
Our team and mission
This position is based at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) - Darmstadt, Germany
Under the direct authority of the Mission Operations Department, the Astronomy and Fundamental Physics Missions Division is responsible for the ground segment and mission operations implementation for the ESA scientific missions that do not travel into interplanetary space. The responsibilities of the Division start typically from Phase B through in-flight commissioning to routine mission operations until end of mission.
The Division acts as the OPS interface to the ESA Project (and later Mission) Manager of these missions and carries responsibility for all technical, financial and schedule aspects of the ground segment and operations implementation and execution. The Division is responsible for directing and executing flight operations of ESA missions in all mission phases, in particular acting as Flight Operations Director for pre-flight simulations, for Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP) and for critical and commissioning phase operations.
For further information visit our web site: http://www.esa.int
Field(s) of activity for the internship
Topic: Evaluation by Simulation of XMM-Newton Onboard Software updates for spacecraft safety and automation
Within the Astronomy and Fundamental Physics Missions Division, as an intern, you will work with the XMM and INTEGRAL satellites flight control teams. The INTEGRAL spacecraft's on-board software was successfully modified at the beginning of 2023 following a long campaign of evaluation and validation of the proposed algorithms within a spacecraft simulation environment at ESOC. A similar update is planned for the XMM spacecraft on-board software to extend operations even when fuel depleted (same as for INTERGAL).
The goal of the study is the evaluation and validation of the proposed XMM algorithms within the spacecraft simulation environment at ESOC. Use cases (spacecraft safety and automation) for the purpose of validation will be provided as a starting point and may evolve as part of the study.
Specific tasks: Familiarisation with XMM/INTEGRAL Spacecraft and Operations; Familiarisation with the Spacecraft Simulation environment; Study of the use cases (key considerations: onboard failure detection and recovery, safe operations after fuel depletion, legacy packet utilisation services, onboard automation); Development of simulation scripts to mimic specific extensions to onboard software algorithms; Development of simulation scripts to allow execution of specific use cases and processing of test data; Execute validation plan based on scripted algorithms and provide report; (If onboard software available in time) โ execute validation plan with equivalent algorithms in on-board software and compare performance.
Behavioural competencies
Result Orientation
Operational Efficiency
Fostering Cooperation
Relationship Management
Continuous Improvement
Forward Thinking
Education
You must have student status and be enrolled at university for the entire duration of the internship. You should preferably be in your final or second to last year of a university course at masterโs level in a technical or scientific discipline.
Additional requirements
The working languages of the Agency are English and French. A good knowledge of one of these is required. Knowledge of another Member State language would be an asset.
Other information
For behavioural competencies expected from ESA staff in general, please refer to the ESA Competency Framework.
If you require support with your application due to a disability, please email contact.human.resources@esa.int.
Internships can take place remotely, on-site or partially on-site depending on the pandemic situation, and in line with the relevant Establishmentโs policy (e.g. possible Green Pass requirement) applicable at the time of starting the internship.
Please note that applications are only considered from nationals of one of the following States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Nationals from Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia, as Associate Member States, or Canada as a Cooperating State, can apply as well as those from Bulgaria, Croatia and Cyprus as European Cooperating States (ECS).