Internal Research Fellow (PostDoc) in Ground Segment and Operations of the Future

 

Location
ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany  

Our team and mission

The Operations Definition and Engineering Team is an expert team responsible for providing Ground Segment and Operations (GS&O) support throughout the early phases of missions, including participation in CDF and phase A/B1. The Team also provides expertise to other projects and studies, including research and development of tools and methods for operations, and the provision of  operations to non-traditional missions. The Team currently supports missions such as Cluster (disposal phase), SpaceRider, M-Matisse, the L4 mission to Enceladus, Theseus, PlasmaObs, LCRS, Moonlight and Henon.

 

You are encouraged to visit the ESA website: https://www.esa.int/

Field(s) of activity/research for the traineeship

Many challenges and trends will affect the operations of the future, including:

• the use of faster processors being pushed by CubeSat technology;
• new requirements for cybers ecurity driven by actual threats;
• ever-higher data streams and volumes downlinked from spacecraft and associated data governance challenges;
• obsolescence of traditional ways to deploy and sustain ground segment systems;
• new forms of space communications, such as optical and quantum technologies;
• the advent of the Solar System internet and the associated challenges in network management and operations concepts, for example, new forms of user-machine interfaces, such as AR/VR;
• new ways to leverage mission data, including AI, analytics and digital twins;
• new ways to define and model systems, such as model-based system engineering;
• supervision of on-board autonomy featuring AI, in relation to navigation and guidance, for example in nominal/degraded/failure modes;
• ever more complex mission architectures, including constellations, landers, hybrid crewed/robotic missions and cooperative missions with inter-satellite links. 

 

You will

• carefully research the current state of the art in operations at a representative number of new satellite operators, and the space industry at large, and benchmark them against operations at ESOC;
• study the landscape of challenges that will affect operations and classify their impact;
• analyse the suitability of ESA's ground segment systems to cope with the challenges that are most likely to  materialise;
• propose and document requirements that the ground segment of the future should fulfil in order to be prepared to meet those challenges, including a roadmap of how these requirements should be implemented;
• design and propose architecture and operations concepts and propose recommendations on the most promising technologies that should be leveraged;
• prototype software to demonstrate at conceptual level some of the features proposed where needed;
• provide a cost estimate of the various options meeting each requirement. 

 

You will also have the opportunity to study the GS&O requirements of small missions and Moon landed payloads, to support GS&O definition activities for external parties, and to investigate and propose ways in which ESOC can provide operations engineering services, such as monitoring and control, planning and scheduling, flight dynamics and TT&C in a competitive, designed-to-cost approach, enabling projects that are less risk averse and do not have the resources required for the full GS&O service of traditional large scientific missions, such as the LUMOS and Máni missions or the PROSPECT lunar payload, leveraging on the experimental laboratory facilities available at ESOC, for example FOX (Facility for Operations eXperimentation). Such projects will serve as study cases for innovative approaches for the GS&O of the future.

Technical competencies

Knowledge relevant to the field of researchResearch/publication recordAbility to conduct research autonomouslyBreadth of exposure coming from past and/or current research/activitiesAbility to gather and share relevant informationGeneral interest in space and space research

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 recently completed, or be close to completion of a PhD in a related technical or scientific discipline. Preference will be given to applications submitted by candidates within five years of receiving their PhD.

A PhD in an engineering domain and solid knowledge of space systems are required for this position.

Additional requirements

In addition to your CV and your motivation letter, please prepare a research proposal of no more than 5 pages. This proposal should be uploaded to the "additional documents" field of the "application information" section.

 

You should:

• be systems-oriented and analytical;
• be proficient in IT skills.

 

You should also 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. 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, religious beliefs, age, disability or other characteristics. 

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 first be given to internal candidates and secondly 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.