Luxembourgish National Graduate Trainee in Spaceship EAC and LUNA Robotics
Porz-Wahn, DE
The ESA National Graduate Trainee (NGT) Programmes offer recent Master’s graduates the opportunity to gain practical, hands-on experience at ESA across a range of space-related disciplines. The programmes are essentially similar to ESA’s own Graduate Trainee Programme, notably in offering the same employment conditions. They however differ in one important respect: each NGT Programme is funded by an individual ESA Member State or Associate Member under a bilateral partnership agreement concluded with ESA.
As a result, a representative of the sponsoring State participates in the selection process. In addition to assessing candidates against the requirements of the position, the selection may also include an evaluation of their background and knowledge of the space policies and related activities of the sponsoring State.
Location
EAC, Porz-Wahn, Germany
Our team and mission
The Directorate of Human and Robotic Exploration is the main ESA entity responsible for supporting and coordinating current and future human spaceflight endeavours. Exploration activities form part of ESA’s strategic efforts to secure a central role for Europe in global initiatives. The European Exploration Envelope Programme (E3P) brings together ESA’s work in this field within a single integrated exploration framework, with a strategy focusing on three destinations where humans and robots will work together to gather new knowledge: Low Earth Orbit (LEO), the Moon and Mars.
The “Spaceship EAC” initiative, driven by the Exploration Preparation, Research and Technology (ExPeRT) team, investigates low Technology Readiness Level (TRL) technologies to support future exploration missions as well as activities on the lunar surface. This multidisciplinary, innovation-driven team, based at the ESA European Astronaut Centre (EAC), comprises researchers, as well as graduate and undergraduate students. The mission statement of “Spaceship EAC” is built around three main pillars: enhance, enable and inspire. The initiative seeks to enhance the capabilities of EAC by drawing on the Centre’s spaceflight experience to develop and validate new operational concepts and valuable technologies for lunar human and robotic exploration.
Previously at EAC, we have been involved in several robotic precursor activities, including Meteron, MARVIN, SUPVIS-M and ANALOG-1, gaining practical experience in surface robotics, teleoperation, autonomy and end-to-end mission operations under analogue conditions. As exploration evolves from ISS-centric operations towards future missions on the lunar surface, EAC is expanding its capacity to accommodate robotic systems and lander-related operational concepts that will support these missions. To that end, ESA and DLR have jointly established the LUNA facility to provide a representative lunar analogue environment where technologies and surface robotic systems can be matured through iterative test campaigns. These cover areas such as mobility and navigation on regolith, surface operations and logistics, payload and lander interfaces, deployment and commissioning sequences, communication and supervision concepts, and system robustness under realistic operational constraints. LUNA serves as a central hub for lunar exploration preparations at ESA and DLR, featuring an approximately 700 m² lunar surface testbed to support technology demonstrations, future training and operational validation for Moon exploration.
Your role will involve developing a general robotics capability for the LUNA facility using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components. This capability will support general test payloads, as well as locomotion, positioning and remote teleoperation across multiple sites. The role will also support the activities of the Spaceship Initiatives and the ongoing development of LUNA in this area.
For further information on Spaceship EAC and some of our work, please visit the Spaceship EAC blog (Spaceship EAC – ESA – Exploration).
You are encouraged to visit the ESA website: https://www.esa.int
Field(s) of activity/research for the traineeship
As a Luxembourgish National Graduate Trainee, you will have the opportunity to:
- support the Spaceship and LUNA teams in developing cobotics testing capability at the LUNA facility, specifically:
- working on advancing Spaceship and ESA robotics projects that can be brought into and deployed at LUNA;
- where possible, reusing and enhancing existing project infrastructure to support LUNA.
- convert operational experience gained working on the robotics platform into robust documentation, to support end users within ESA as well as external parties;
- use best-known industry standards to enhance the project, taking into account requirements and constraints such as scope, budget and location;
- support selected LUNA campaign and testing activities focused on robotics with respect to planning, execution and documentation;
- support the Spaceship Initiatives project and activities within the centre and at the other Spaceship locations in UK, Poland and France;
- liaise with the management team on related robotics activities within the team, via meetings and discussions;
- explore educational and outreach possibilities for cobotics at the LUNA facility.
Technical competencies
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 in the final year of your master’s degree in a relevant scientific or technical discipline.
Additional requirements
Knowledge and background in the areas of robotics, mechanical engineering and software/system engineering are sought.
Experience with analogue experiments and relevant work at ground-based testing facilities or payload development would also be considered relevant.
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, 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
Applicants must be eligible to access information, technology, and hardware which is subject to European or US export control and sanctions regulations.
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 Luxembourg or permanent residents of Luxembourg with the nationality of an ESA Member State, Associate Member or Cooperating State.
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.