Job Description

Intern in the Electrical Department, AOCS and Pointing Architecture Section

Job Requisition ID: 19922

Date Posted: 1 November 2025

Closing Date: 30 November 2025 23:59 CET/CEST

Publication: External Only

Type of Contract: Intern

Directorate: Technology, Engineering and Quality

Workplace:

Noordwijk, NL

Location
ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands

Our team and mission

The GNC, AOCS and Pointing Division is responsible for Engineering and Research and Development in the following domains:

Satellite Attitude and Orbit Control Systems (AOCS) in all application domains and for all mission types and classes;
Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC) systems for space vehicles including interplanetary cruise, aero assistance, landing, ascent, descent, rendezvous and docking, re-entry, formation flying, close proximity operations and drag-free systems;
Integration and digitalisation of AOCS and GNC;
AOCS and GNC sensors and actuators;
Autonomous Navigation systems including data fusion, vision-based navigation and hybrid navigation concepts, guidance & optimisation techniques, including artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques;
Pointing engineering, including stabilisation techniques and control strategies;
Failure Detection Isolation and Recovery (FDIR) for AOCS and GNC systems;
State of the art Modelling and simulation techniques and tools, Validation and Verification and Contribution to operations and flight anomaly investigation for AOCS and GNC;
Contributing to demonstration of AOCS and GNC systems and technologies;
Management of the AOCS, Pointing, GNC and Sensors laboratory;
Development of ECSS and ESA control and pointing engineering standards.

The Attitude and Orbit Control System (AOCS) & Pointing Architecture Section provides functional support to ESA projects in the technical field of AOCS & pointing systems for Earth Observation, Navigation, Science, Connectivity & Secure Communications.

The AOCS & Pointing Architecture Section carries out technological research, harmonization and standardization in the field of AOCS and Pointing systems, with focus on subsystem competitiveness, and innovation for performance, robustness and process improvements.

Candidates interested are encouraged to visit the ESA website: http://www.esa.int and websites of the main conferences (co-)organised by the GNC, AOCS & Pointing Division: ESA GNC Conference, ICATT and ADCSS.

Field(s) of activity for the internship

Topic of the internship: Systematic robust performance evaluation for early mission feasibility assessment and architecture trade-offs

As an intern in the AOCS & Pointing Architecture Section, you will develop an AOCS performance simulator with its robust tuning pipeline and a performance assessment tool to enable early mission feasibility assessment and architecture trade-offs.

The objectives are:

to model the main performance drivers (actuators, dynamics, sensors & attitude estimation modelling, including Star tracker Field Of View error with non-inertial pointing, dynamic stellar estimator, and tachometer stellar estimator);
to model uncertainties and apply robust control for optimised performance with generic design and tuning pipeline;
to upgrade the simulator and performance assessment systematic evaluations over sets of Hardware suites (sensors and actuators) for architecture trade-offs, and for different missions;
to consolidate the verification of the simulator and tool, including with ESA pointing benchmark implementation and comparison.

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 must be a university student, preferably studying at master’s level. In addition, you must be able to prove that you will be enrolled at your University for the entire duration of the internship.

Additional requirements

The working languages of the Agency are English and French. A good knowledge of one of these is required. Knowledge of another ESA Member State language is an asset.

During the interview, your motivation for applying to this role will be explored.

Knowledge and background in the following fields is an asset:

sensors, actuators and dynamics modelling;
data fusion and estimation;
robust control and performance;
Matlab/Simulink and Python.

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.

Applicants must be eligible to access information, technology, and hardware which is subject to European or US export control and sanctions regulations.

The information published on ESA’s careers website regarding internship 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

Please note that applications are only considered from nationals of one of the following States: Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.