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 Earth Observation Missions Division is responsible for the ground segment and mission operations implementation for the ESA and EU earth observation missions. 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 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 in all mission phases, in particular acting as Flight Operations Director for preflight 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: Spacecraft Operations Automation: bridging the gap between operational and new generation Mission Control Systems
As an intern, you will work within a Flight Control Team at ESOC and would need to become familiar with the full set of activities typically performed to take care of a real mission spacecraft health and ensure the scientific data are acquired and downlinked on a timely manner. You will focus on the command-and-control activities together with the ancillary activities to prepare the required products and verifications.
The framework of this activity is the migration from the operationally available Mission Control System (based on SCOS-2000) to the new generation based on the European Ground Segment Common Core (EGS-CC), a product that is envisaged for adoption by ESA and Industry for both flight operations and AIT activities.
While EGS-CC is natively designed for automation, there are certain processes that would need to be adapted from the current practices to adapt them to the new system. Your job as an intern would be understand the concepts involved in flight operations and, based on the acquired knowledge, help identifying and coding the required adaptations to enable parallel operations in both mission control systems.
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.
Additional Requirements:
- System design skills and familiarity with complex workflows
- Familiarity with Python and Linux shell
- Knowdedge of Java and Groovy languages is considered an advantage
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).