Our team and mission

The Space Debris Office is part of the Space Safety Programme Office in the Directorate of Operations and is the focal point for ESA space debris activities.

The Space Debris Office coordinates the Agency’s space debris research activities and is responsible for all space debris-related operational and analysis services supporting ESA missions, and for ESA’s cooperation on space debris topics at inter-agency level. The work of the Space Debris Office is based on a large set of operational and scientific analysis software that is developed, maintained and operated under its supervision.

The Office's related activities cover:

• the Characterisation of the space debris environment and its evolution;
• impact risk analysis;
• space debris mitigation;
• collision risk prediction and collision avoidance manoeuvre planning;
• re-entry forecasts and re-entry risk predictions;
• the maintenance of a database on objects in space.

Activities also include providing expert support with a view to developing technology and performing studies related to ESA’s “Zero Debris” approach, i.e. in the areas of space debris mitigation and remediation (active removal of space debris objects). Furthermore, the Office plays a leading role in all space debris activities in ESA’s Space Safety Programme, i.e. development, demonstration, test and validation of technologies addressing instrumentation, data processing, risk modelling and assessments, automated collision avoidance, environment sustainability and impact assessments, and the development of related small missions.

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

Field(s) of activity/research for the traineeship

As a Young Graduate Trainee, you will be expected to contribute to activities in the Space Safety Programme related to different aspects of space debris observation and mitigation, including working on small missions and projects under development in the Space Safety Programme that address re-entry safety, space-based optical observation of space debris, coordination of spacecraft manoeuvres, laser tracking of space debris or deploying a foil-based impact detector.

In support of these small missions and projects, you will also work with the Debris Risk Assessment and Mitigation Analysis (DRAMA) tool suite, the Programme for Radar and Optical Observation Forecasting (PROOF) and, ESA’s space debris reference model MASTER.

You will also be involved in completing the Debris Mitigation Facility (DMF) that is currently under development in the Directorate of Operations and aims to provides a model-based approach to risk assessment for system designers and operators. With that work, you will help to improve and design novel techniques for compliance with space debris mitigation guidelines and standards. You will also be involved in related assessments of ESA or third-party missions in various development phases.

You will work in a small team on the activities described above, coordinated by the Space Debris Office, and will have the opportunity to actively contribute to on-going projects and research activities, develop new tools and present results to an international community. You will also be involved in operational activities such as collision avoidance and re-entry predictions. You will attend regular team meetings and support the coordination of space debris monitoring activities within a group of experts on space debris matters.

Technical competencies

Behavioural competencies

Result Orientation

Operational Efficiency

Fostering Cooperation

Relationship Management

Continuous Improvement

Forward Thinking

Education

You should have just completed, or be in the final year of your Master’ s degree in a technical or scientific discipline.

Additional requirements

You should have good knowledge of orbital mechanics and mathematics in general, and also be familiar with Linux operating environments and scientific programming (e.g. programming in Python, while knowledge of Java, C++, or FORTRAN would be an additional asset).

Solid demonstrated experience in system and software engineering, an aptitude for defining, organising and following up study work in distributed teams, and proven organisational and documentation skills would be considered assets as well. Basic knowledge of project management is expected.

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.

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.

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