Our team and mission

The Aerothermodynamics and Flight Vehicles Engineering Section is part of ESA’s Propulsion, Aerothermodynamics and Flight Vehicles Engineering Division in the Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality.

The Aerothermodynamics and Flight Vehicles Engineering Section provides expertise and functional support to ESA projects and carries out technology research and development on fluid mechanics, aero(thermos)dynamics, fluidic engineering and flight physics. The Section is also the focal point for the architecture design, analysis and technical assessment of flight vehicles, including suborbital, (re-)entry, space transportation and exploration vehicles

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

Field(s) of activity for the internship

Understanding and predicting the behaviour of highly rarefied plumes, such as those created by electric propulsion thrusters, is important for assessing their interaction with spacecraft surfaces and instruments, as well as for distinguishing vacuum facility effects on thrusters’ performance. The modelling of such plumes presents a challenging fluid mechanics problem, combining rarefied gas dynamics, plasma physics, surface interactions and the influence of the surrounding environment.

This internship will provide an opportunity to apply and improve numerical modelling tools of the Section to simulate and analyse plasma plumes and their interaction with ESA's Electric Propulsion Laboratory (EPL) vacuum facilities. Experimental measurements from tests in EPL will be used as a reference dataset to investigate these phenomena and to improve the understanding of plume behaviour in both flight-like and ground-test conditions.

During this internship, you will:

• analyse experimental measurements of a rarefied thruster plume obtained in a vacuum test facility;
• develop and/or improve numerical models to reconstruct and simulate plume expansion and flow-field characteristics;
• investigate the influence of vacuum-facility boundaries (background pressure, chamber size, pumping speed and walls interactions) and test conditions on the measured plume behaviour;
• compare numerical predictions with experimental data and assess the validity and limitations of different modelling approaches;
• explore simplified system-level models to understand how operating conditions influence plume characteristics and flow behaviour.

This internship will provide hands-on experience in rarefied flow modelling, computational fluid mechanics, experimental data analysis and model validation, while developing your understanding of how advanced numerical methods can be applied to complex spacecraft engineering problems.

Close collaboration with ESA’s Electric Propulsion Section is foreseen during the execution of the internship, in support of the analysis and comparison with experimental test results.

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 in your final or second-to-last year of university course 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.

Experience with scientific programming in Fortran or C++ is an asset.
Knowledge and background in numerical modelling using Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) or Particle-in-Cell (PIC) is an asset.