Young Graduate Trainee for Guidance, Navigation and Control Engineering

As a YGT you will be a member of the Guidance Navigation and Control Section in ESA’s GNC, AOCS & Pointing Division.

With about 30 team members, the Division is happy to welcome YGTs to contribute to the following Section duties:

- PROJECT SUPPORT in the field of Guidance Navigation & Control engineering:

• GNC design, system analysis and modelling for future and current missions in the ESA Directorates of Science (planetary exploration), Human Spaceflight & Robotic Exploration and Space Transportation (launchers and re-entry vehicles);

- TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT

• Research & development for missions enabling GNC technologies related to ascent, re-entry, entry descent & landing, rendezvous and formation flying, in-orbit assembly & servicing, interplanetary cruise;
• Developing and managing missions enabling GNC R&D activities. Advanced control, estimation and optimisation techniques and tools including verification and validation; improving modelling capabilities, focusing on multi-physics dynamic modelling for complex space systems, uncertainty modelling and quantification, offline/online dynamic system identification and post-flight analysis techniques. 
• Vision-based and hybrid navigation systems; advanced filtering techniques and image processing technologies for optical and IR cameras; data fusion techniques GNSS and inertial measurement units.      

- LABORATORY WORK

• Upgrading the GNC test facilities of the control lab;
• Prototyping and closed-loop testing of advanced GNC systems in a representative environment.

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

You will contribute to implementing and upgrading the GNC simulation, analysis, design and verification facilities of the Section serving the following application domains:

-           Rendezvous and docking, capture or berthing

-           Orbital proximity operations, in-orbit servicing and space debris removal

-           Ascender/descender applications for space exploration and space transportation

You will perform the following tasks:

1. from mission or system-level requirements, developing an understanding of the implications regarding the derived requirements and architectures at GNC system level
2. developing or enhancing existing GNC simulation environments, implementing mission-specific models of dynamics, kinematics and environment as well as GNC sensor and actuator suites
3. contributing to GNC analysis and design of on-board algorithms for the abovementioned applications
4. implementing GNC algorithms on a target processor via auto-coding to assess real-time performance and computational loads
5. integrating and verifying a Processor-in-the-Loop (PIL) testing facility, using Section test facilities
6. setting up and verifying a Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) experiment; you will integrate the PIL avionics set-up, available hardware models of GNC units and all needed interfaces into the GRALS (GNC Rendezvous, Approach & Landing Simulator) robotics facility at ESTEC
7. performing end-to-end verification, validation, and closed-loop testing of GNC systems on the developed PIL and HIL facilities
8. documenting performed activities in dedicated technical reports

You should have just completed, or be in the final year of a university course at Master's level (or equivalent) in Aerospace or Controls engineering.

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.　

You should demonstrate good interpersonal skills and the capacity to work both independently and as part of a team. 　

During the interview your motivation and overall professional perspective/career goals will also be explored.