Space Surveillance and Tracking Traineeship

The European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) provides safe and secure European satellite navigation services, advances the commercialization of Galileo, the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), and Copernicus data and services, engages in secure SATCOM (GOVSATCOM & IRIS²), and operates the Space Surveillance and Tracking (SST) Front Desk. Through these projects, EUSPA enhances European autonomy in space technologies, fosters innovation and creativity, supports European transport net and agriculture, all while contributing to the economic growth and health of the European Union.

EUSPA offers a diverse multicultural workplace that welcomes all applicants without distinction on any grounds of gender, race, ethnic or social origin, nationality, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, birth, gender identity, disability, age, sexual orientation, marital status or other family situation. EUSPA wishes to employ competent talents and be representative of the diversity of the EU citizens and is committed to provide the best working conditions and benefits to its staff. For more information on the EUSPA and the EU Space Programme, click here.

The SST Front Desk, located at the Galileo Security Monitoring Centre in Spain (GSMC-ES), is the main interface to deliver SST information and services (e.g. collision avoidance, re-entry and fragmentation) to the SST users’ community, through the so-called SST Portal. It has an operational team that supports users of these services, including spacecraft owners and operators, EU institutions and EU Member States, among others. The Front Desk also performs activities related to user coordination and engagement, service performance, and communication.

This traineeship offers insight into the SST activities and aims to contribute to (A) the development and testing of service provision tools, while also supporting some of the team operational activities or (B) the development of SST reporting and monitoring activities. Based on the candidate’s profile and preference, the traineeship can also focus on (C) assessing European and international frameworks for space safety and sustainability activities, while contributing to development of overall regulatory schemes.

The position requires relocation to Madrid, an international city with several things to offer: breath-taking art, complex culture, exquisite food, and rich history. The capital of Spain has excellent connections to the rest of the country, as well as to the rest of the world, and is famous for its vibrant nightlife and welcoming people. 

It shall be noted that the GSMC-ES is located in La Marañosa, near San Martín de la Vega, and may not be easily reached by public transportation. Driving license and own car are recommended.

The trainee will be expected to carry out under supervision the following duties depending on the assigned area/profile:

(A) Space Surveillance and Tracking (service provision)

• Contribute to the development of SST service provision tools and processing algorithms, e.g. visualisation, reference frame transformations, orbit determination, propagation, collision avoidance;
• Support the SST operational activities, e.g. in terms of user’s interaction, support;
• Support the preparation and review of technical documentation and the interface with stakeholders.

(B) Space Surveillance and Tracking (reporting and monitoring)

• Contribute to the development of SST reporting and monitoring activities, e.g. in terms of development of pipelines for data processing, quality, integrity automatization of processes;
• Support the preparation and review of technical documentation and the interface with stakeholders.

(C) Space Policy and Sustainability

• Support the monitoring of space policy related developments in the European and international schemes, e.g. documents review, information collection, compilation and presentation;
• Contribute to the development of activities on space safety and sustainability issues, focused on regulatory and legislative matters, e.g. registration, life-cycle assessment, compliance, standards;
• Provide administrative support, e.g. document management, organising meetings.

Candidates are invited to indicate their preference (of area of work) in the motivation letter.

The traineeship is open to applicants who have not previously undertaken a regular (paid) traineeship at EUSPA and who meet the following requirements:

1. Have a nationality of any Member State of the European Union, Iceland or Norway;
2. A recognised higher education degree (university education or equivalent), evidencing completion of a full cycle of study, or in the case of candidates who are at the end of their studies, an official certification confirming that students are currently in their final year of academic studies;
3. Have interest or knowledge about one or more areas of work of the Agency obtained during their studies/research projects/traineeships or through previous professional experience;
4. Possess a thorough knowledge of one official language of the European Union and a satisfactory knowledge of another language of the European Union; one of these languages must be the working language of the Agency (English);
5. Have a clean criminal record.

The applications will be assessed against the following criteria:

For the profile (A) Space Surveillance and Tracking (service provision):

1. Education or work experience in the area of engineering, preferably related with space;
2. Knowledge in programming and scripting languages (e.g. python, Java) and software development best practices;
3. Knowledge in orbital mechanics and flight dynamics tools and libraries (e.g. Orekit, GMAT) and experience in orbital mechanics programming is desirable/considered an asset;

For the profile (B) Space Surveillance and Tracking (reporting and monitoring):

1. Education or work experience in the area of engineering or computer science;
2. Knowledge in programming and scripting languages and software development best practices, experience in Python is desirable/considered an asset;
3. Knowledge of Application Programming Interfaces (API) and workflow management tools;
4. Knowledge in big data management/analysis and best practices for validation and verification;

For the profile (C) Space Policy and Sustainability:

1. Education or work experience in the area of legal and/or space policy matters;
2. Education or knowledge in sustainability issues applicable to space;

Additional to the specific criteria per profile, all candidates will also be evaluated against the following criteria:

1. Problem-solving;
2. Prioritising and organising;
3. Effective communication skills, including the ability to summarise information;
4. Transversal collaboration and working in teams;
5. Excellent command of both written and spoken English;
6. Motivation for the post.

The current call is open to fill any potential vacant places at the Space Surveillance & Tracking Front Desk. Candidates are advised to apply as early as possible, as positions may arise at any point in time as long as the call remains open. Once a position in the team becomes vacant, the eligibility of the applications will be assessed. The Head of the recruiting department /team will nominate the department’s/team's evaluators to carry out the selection of the most suitable candidates. The evaluators will assess the eligible applications and select those best matching the selection criteria required for the available traineeship.

The best suitable candidates may be invited for a phone/video interview which may include other appropriate testing.

Engagement for a traineeship will be decided on the basis of a list of suitable candidates proposed by the evaluators. The established list may be used for other similar traineeships depending on the Agency’s needs.

The starting date of the traineeship depends on the Agency's needs and budget availability.

All applicants will be informed after their application has been reviewed and evaluated. 

If an application is unsuccessful, candidates may re-apply to future vacancies for which they satisfy the criteria.

To be considered for this position, candidates need to create an account by registering via the EUSPA e-recruitment tool.

Only applications submitted via the e-recruitment tool will be accepted. Applications sent via email or post will not be taken into consideration.

Multiple applications received for the same position via different accounts will lead to the exclusion of the applicant from the selection procedure.

Important: the information provided by candidates in their online application constitutes the solely basis for the assessment of the eligibility and selection criteria. Therefore, they are invited to carefully read the requirements and to provide the relevant information in such detail that would allow this assessment. Particular attention should be paid to information on the education and professional experience, in particular exact dates, description of responsibilities and duties carried out. It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure accurate and elaborate completion of the application form and avoidance of unclarities and typos.

All sections of the application should be completed in English in order to facilitate the selection procedure.

To be considered, applications must be received by the closing date indicated in the vacancy notice.

Candidates are advised to submit the application well ahead of the deadline in order to avoid potential problems during the final days before the closing date of applications’ submissions. The Agency cannot be held responsible for any last-minute malfunctioning of the e-recruitment tool due to heavy traffic on the website.

Any request for technical support must be sent to: jobs@euspa.europa.eu minimum two working days before the vacancy notice deadline. Please note, that if you submit your request for technical support later, we may not be able to assist you.

Please consult the e-recruitment guideline for instructions on completing the application.

Any questions regarding the selection procedure should be addressed only to: jobs@euspa.europa.eu.

In addition, candidates having any personal relationship within the EUSPA shall declare such situation to: jobs@euspa.europa.eu.

Applicants have the right to file a complaint to the European Ombudsman or send an application to the General Court of the European Union, should they consider they have been adversely affected by a particular decision.

Details on how to initiate these processes are available here.

Trainees receive a monthly grant for full-time traineeship of €1,500.00¹.

Trainees may also be entitled to the reimbursement of their travel expenses from/to their place of origin.

Trainees shall be responsible for organising their own sickness insurance against health risks and their own accident insurance.

Before the start of the traineeship, the candidate will be required to provide the following documents:

• Proof of nationality;
• Diplomas or academic qualifications needed to prove that they satisfy the admission criteria;
• An excerpt from police records;
• A medical certificate confirming that they are fit for work and free of any contagious diseases;
• Documents showing that the trainee has public or private cover for accident insurance and sickness insurance against health risks for the entire duration of the traineeship period;
• A statement indicating whether the trainee is in receipt of a grant or other subsistence allowance from another source and if so, the amount of these grants or allowances;
• Declaration of confidentiality and absence of conflict of interests.

For detailed information about rights and obligation related to traineeships, please refer to the Decision of The Executive Director on the Rules governing the Traineeship Scheme of the Agency².

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[1] The official European Commission rates will automatically apply for grants paid in non-Euro accounts. All bank charges for incoming payments shall be carried by the trainee. If the traineeship is part-time, the grant will be proportionate.

[2] https://www.euspa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/EUSPA%20Traineeship%20Decision.pdf

The Agency is an equal opportunities employer and strongly encourages applications from all candidates who fulfil the eligibility and selection criteria without any distinction whatsoever on grounds of nationality, age, race, political, philosophical or religious conviction, gender or sexual orientation and regardless of disabilities, marital status or other family situation.

The purpose of processing of the data submitted by candidates is to manage each application in view of selection and recruitment as a trainee at the EUSPA. The personal information requested from applicants will be processed in line with Regulation (EU) N° 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, officers and agencies and on the free movement of such data (repealing Regulation (EC) N° 45/2001 and Decision N° 1247/2002/EC).

Please consult the EUSPA privacy policy here: https://www.euspa.europa.eu/privacy-policy.