Internship Opportunity in the Directorate of Human and Robotic Exploration Programmes.
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 Noordwijk
Our team and mission
This position is based at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) - Noordwijk, Netherlands
The Commercialization and Innovation Team in the Directorate of Human & Robotic Exploration leads the definition and coordinates the implementation of all HRE cross-sectoral innovation initiatives as outlined in the Agencyโs European Exploration Envelope Programme (E3P) Innovation Plan.This includes, in particular, delivery of the E3P Space Resources Plan and the establishment of Low-Earth Orbit and Lunar platform-based commercial services developed in the frame of the open โCall for Commercial Services and Productsโ.
Furthermore, the Teamโs responsibilities include the promotion of non-ESA funded demand for such services through the Business in Space Growth Network (BSGN), as well as delivering a comprehensive lunar communication and navigation service in coordination with the ESA Directorates of Navigation and Telecommunications.
The BSGNโs Industry Accelerators for Sustainable Food, Advanced Materials and in-Space Manufacturing and Health are fostering business opportunities in space exploration to private industry, acting as Business-to-Business (B2B) interface between the space industry and other industries. It aims to establish an ecosystem for commercial projects to grow and provides relevant support mechanisms and frameworks to support the development of the LEO and Lunar Economy.
For further information visit our web site: http://www.esa.int
Field(s) of activity for the internship
Topic: Lunar Communication & Navigation User Missions
The European Space Agency is developing, through the Moonlight commercial initiatives, a lunar communication and navigation infrastructure through two missions: Lunar Pathfinder, establishing an initial service with a short-term availability, and LCNS (Lunar Communication and Navigation System), bringing a higher performance and more comprehensive service on a longer term. Multiple missions will make use of those services, ranging from Rovers to Landers, Ascenders, Bases, Orbiters either in Low Lunar Orbit or at higher altitude (NRHO, HALO, Lagrange points).
As an intern, you will be:
- Supporting the definition, implementation, and promotion of commercial opportunities in space exploration in an effort to grow the emerging Lunar Economy in the specific field of Lunar communication and navigation.
- In the framework of the Moonlight Program, supporting the development of potential use cases for the utilization of Lunar Pathfinder (in the short/medium-term) and Lunar Communication and Navigation Services (LCNS) (in the medium/long-term). This will involve supporting third partiesโ entities interested in developing commercial solutions that will make use of the Lunar Pathfinder and/or LCNS by helping them mature the underlying business cases and direct them towards the most suitable funding opportunities available at ESA
.
This internship is primarily about telecommunication and system engineering to support the elaboration and consolidation of the definition of use-cases and facilitate the on-boarding of future users. This will include more particularly:
- Understanding and elaborating the Concepts of Operations of Users (orbiters, landers, rovers) to driving specific requirements to the service to be delivered (mission phases, orbits, latencies, availabilities, criticality, volumes, data types),
- Understanding and elaborating the physical properties of the Lunar Assets (EIRP, G/T, pointing budgets),
- Proofreading and support to the elaboration of technical documentations.
The activity will be held in direct partnership with the Tutor and as part of the commercialisation & innovation team. The User Missions are involving multiple directorates within ESA, NASA and JAXA or industries and good communication skills will be essential for the success of this internship.
For more information, please visit:
Luna Pathfinder
Lunar satellites
Behavioural competencies
Result Orientation
Operational Efficiency
Fostering Cooperation
Relationship Management
Continuous Improvement
Forward ThinkingEducation
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.
Additional Requirements:
- You should have good interpersonal and communication skills and should be able to work in a multi-cultural environment, both independently and as part of a team
- A technical background in telecommunications and an interest in system engineering are important for this internship
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).