Young Graduate Trainee for Ground Stations Operations of Small Missions (SMILE)

As part of the Mission Operations Department, the Ground Facilities Operations Division manages, operates and maintains infrastructure used to support operations of ESA and external missions. Facilities include Telemetry, Tracking & Command (TT&C) stations belonging to ESA’s ground station network (ESTRACK), the Operations Control Centre at ESOC and Mission Operations Technical IT.

The Division is responsible for management of the Special Mission Infrastructure Laboratory Environment, a flexible mission control and validation facility located at ESA’s Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany. Comprising an operational control lab and several ground station antennas, SMILE supports ESA internal users as well as universities, research institutes and companies prototyping, testing and validating innovative operations concepts and technologies. Typical users benefitting from access to SMILE facilities and services are:

• CubeSats and small spacecraft manufacturers and operators;
• ground station software and hardware developers;
• ground segment service providers.

More information at www.esa.int/smile 

Interested candidates are encouraged to visit the ESA website: http://www.esa.int

The main objective of this activity is to support the preparation and conducting of ground facilities operations with a particular focus on small satellite missions.

As a YGT, you will be assigned to the team responsible for operations, maintenance and evolution of the SMILE facilities. You will review, maintain and evolve procedures, tools and other systems used in the operations and promotion of SMILE. You will be responsible for the daily operations of the relevant facilities in support of ESA and external customers missions, typically in the areas of small satellites and CubeSats.

You will be supporting the evolution of SMILE facilities and services, including automation of tracking activities as well as the definition and testing of novel concepts such as optical communication and autonomous ground station scheduling.

You should have just completed, or be in your final year of a university course at Master's level (or equivalent) in a technical or scientific discipline.

The following is also considered as desirable qualification:

• Knowledge of programming languages, e.g. python.
• Possession of radio-amateur licence
• Knowledge of virtual private networks and/or administration of virtual machines

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.