Our team and mission

This position is based at the European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications (ECSAT) – Harwell, UK

IMPORTANT: Due to the location of ECSAT and current UK legislation, only UK citizens, students enrolled in a UK university, or those with pre-settled status (right to study) in the UK are eligible to apply for this internship.

The Directorate of Human and Robotic Exploration (D/HRE) is the main ESA entity in charge of supporting and coordinating efforts towards the current and the future endeavours of human spaceflight. The exploration activities are part of the strategic plans in securing a central role for Europe with respect to the global initiatives. The European Exploration Envelope Programme (E3P) is integrating the ESA activities in this field to ensure a single exploration process. The strategy includes three destinations where humans will work with robots to gather new knowledge: Low Earth Orbit (LEO), the Moon, and Mars.

The “Spaceship ECSAT” initiative is investigating low Technology Readiness Level (TRL) technologies for supporting the future cislunar space mission as well as surface activities on the Moon as part of the Exploration Preparation, Research and Technology (ExPeRT) team. This multidisciplinary, innovation-driven team composed by researchers, graduate and undergraduate students is based at the ESA European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications (ECSAT). The mission statement of “Spaceship ECSAT” is centered on three main pillars: connect, inspire and advance. The founding idea behind this initiative is to prepare the future of Space exploration. To do so, a pragmatic and research focused approach is adopted, and knowledge acquired is disseminated within ESA, partners and the relevant scientific community.

Within Spaceship ECSAT, we have a number of fields where we carry out different projects. These fields are: 

• Demonstrating disruptive technologies such as Virtual/Augmented Reality, collaborative robotics and their potential use cases for exploration;
• Investigating novel concepts in the domain of Space Resources/In-Situ Resource Utilisation, to enable sustainable human exploration;
• Topics related to ‘off world living’, e.g. human factors, design and concept illustration.

Additionally, the Spaceship team is involved in supporting the development of our VULCAN facility at ECSAT (previously known as the Sample Analogue Curation Facility). This facility is designed to be a focal point for simulant development (including regolith, rocks etc.) and curation activities in Europe for Space Applications, with a focus on Exploration and Science. It provides expertise to ESA, its member states, and potentially worldwide regarding analogue and simulant materials.

We are continually looking for innovative applicants with skills or interests in these areas to join the Spaceship ECSAT team.

For more information on the Spaceships of ESA, please look at the ESA blog (ESA Spaceships – Exploration)

Candidates interested are encouraged to visit the ESA website: http://www.esa.int

Field(s) of activity for the internship

You can choose between the following topics:

1) Topic 1: Spaceship ECSAT – Robotics

Spaceship ECSAT – our team is always on the lookout for talented and motivated persons to join our projects and contribute to ESA’s exploration activities. The main areas into which the initiative is currently active are:

• Remote manipulation;
• Surface mobility.

2) Topic 2: Spaceship ECSAT – VR/XR

Spaceship ECSAT – our team is always on the lookout for talented and motivated persons to join our projects and contribute to ESA’s exploration activities. The main areas into which the initiative is currently active are: 

• VR/AR technologies for exploration;
• Embedded systems and IoT;
• Graphic design and GUI.

3) Topic 3: Spaceship ECSAT – Graphic Design

Spaceship ECSAT – our team is always on the lookout for talented and motivated persons to join our projects and contribute to ESA’s exploration activities. The main areas into which the initiative is currently active are: 

• Coding (Python, C#, C++);
• Graphic design and GUI.

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 must be a university student, preferably in your final or second-to-last year of a university course at Master’s level and you need to remain enrolled at your University for the entire duration of the internship.

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.

Knowledge and background in the topical areas presented for Spaceship ECSAT is required.