Location
ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany
Our team and mission
You will be part of the Mission Analysis Section, Flight Dynamics Division, Ground Systems Engineering Department.
The Mission Analysis Section is entrusted with mission studies for future terrestrial, lunar and interplanetary missions as well as scientific missions located in planetary or lunar libration points. The emphasis is typically on trajectory and attitude related aspects, and on supporting ground segment design and operations. This includes trade-offs for selection of the nominal mission trajectory, definition of maneuvering strategies, optimization of orbital manoeuvres (low- and high-thrust propulsion, including rocket ascent trajectories), calculation of propellant budget, analysis of launch window, analysis of orbit perturbations and navigation. The task also includes development of the necessary analytical and numerical methods and software tools.
You are encouraged to visit the ESA website:
Field(s) of activity/research for the traineeship
ESA’s mission portfolio comprises a huge variety of destinations: terrestrial, lunar and interplanetary missions as well as scientific missions located in planetary or lunar libration points. Naturally, the spacecraft or, in the future, lunar and planetary landers are not directly visible to the mission design and flight operation teams. However, many use cases and applications exist where a visualization of a launcher, single or multiple spacecraft, their attitude and position relative to other bodies, their sensors field of view, etc. is required.
Visualizing the expert knowledge and hence making it more "visible" to other colleagues or even the public is a crucial capability to identify and understand issues and constraints much easier and enable more comprehensible communication of complex topics. For some of the applications above specialized tools were developed by the respective teams, which however are often limited to the team’s specific visualization need.
Your task will be to develop for OPS, more general ESA, and external partners an open source general visualization tool compatible with the ESA standard formats (e.g. OEM - Orbit Ephemeris Messages or typical TM packages) as input. While there are many domain specific visualization tools around, visualizing e.g. an ESA S/C with the right attitude approaching a planet with the correct illumination conditions is currently not a straight forward task. Likewise, a lunar rover trajectory path through terrain with strongly changing illumination conditions cannot be easily visualized and presented.
The initial development of the tool shall support the most common visualization tasks. To ensure that these use cases address current and future needs user stories from different teams in the agency were gathered. They can be used as backlog for the development. Ideally, the tool is independent of any operating system and thus has the widest possible user base.
The initial objectives of the tool are
* To have a visualisation application, including a web module, with an intuitive GUI and an accessible catalogue, supporting standard interfaces and I/O formats;
* To statically and dynamically visualise a realistic and optically appealing 3D solar system scenery including the Sun, small bodies, planetary bodies, star background, and spacecraft models, including realistic illumination conditions;
* To statically and dynamically visualise a realistic and optically appealing 3D surface scenery including digital terrain models (DEMs), surface analysis products, celestial objects, spacecraft, and surface asset models, including realistic illumination conditions and real-time in-situ observation;
* To statically and dynamically visualise ancillary data associated to natural bodies and / or artificial objects on ground and in space in 2D maps and 3D views of space and surface sceneries;
* To interactively visualise time sequences with manual or automatic change of observer, scenery, and visualised data at user-defined events, optionally including pre-programmed events and deviation of real-time state from estimated one.
Technical competencies
Knowledge of relevant technical/functional domains
Relevant experience gained during internships, project work and/or extracurricular or other activities
General knowledge of the space sector and relevant activities
Knowledge of ESA and its programmes/projects
Behavioural competencies
Result Orientation
Operational Efficiency
Fostering Cooperation
Relationship Management
Continuous Improvement
Forward Thinking
For more information, please refer to ESA Core Behavioural Competencies guidebook
Education
You should have just completed, or be in the final year of your master’ s degree in computer science, engineering or a related discipline.
Additional requirements
You should have good interpersonal and communication skills and should be able to work in a multicultural environment, both independently and as part of a team. Previous experience of working in international teams can be considered an asset. Your motivation, overall professional perspective and career goals will also be explored during the later stages of the selection process.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusiveness
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.
At the Agency we value diversity, and we welcome people with disabilities. Whenever possible, we seek to accommodate individuals with disabilities by providing the necessary support at the workplace. The Human Resources Department can also provide assistance during the recruitment process. If you would like to discuss this further, please contact us via email at contact.human.resources@esa.int.
Important Information and Disclaimer
During the recruitment process, the Agency may request applicants to undergo selection tests. Additionally, successful candidates will need to undergo basic screening before appointment, which will be conducted by an external background screening service, in compliance with the European Space Agency's security procedures.
The information published on ESA’s careers website regarding working conditions is correct at the time of publication. It is not intended to be exhaustive and may not address all questions you would have.
Nationality and Languages
Please note that applications can only be considered from nationals of one of the following States: Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Nationals from Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia as Associate Member States, or Canada as a Cooperating State, can apply as well as those from Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus and Malta as European Cooperating States (ECS).
According to the ESA Convention, the recruitment of staff must take into account an adequate distribution of posts among nationals of the ESA Member States*. When short-listing for an interview, priority will be given to external candidates from under-represented Member States *.
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.
*Member States, Associate Members or Cooperating States.