Intern in the Space Safety Programme, Planetary Defense Office

Intern in the Space Safety Programme, Planetary Defense Office

Job Requisition ID: 20051

Date Posted: 1 November 2025

Closing Date: 30 November :59 CET/CEST

Publication: External Only

Type of Contract: Intern

Directorate: Operations

Workplace:Frascati, IT

Location

ESRIN, Frascati, Italy

Our team and mission

The ESA Space Safety Programme Office takes care of all potential hazards from space or in space, which can impact human activities on Earth or again in space. The spectrum of tasks ranges from gathering the basic understanding of space hazards originating from our Sun, from man-made space debris, or from asteroids potentially colliding with the Earth. It also addresses basic approaches to mitigate these hazards and to implement space systems end-to-end in a sustainable and eco-compatible way. Moreover, several corner stone missions are underway to demonstrate basic methods of space weather forecasting, asteroid deflection and active space debris removal from orbit.

In execution of these tasks, the Space Safety Office has the following entities:

• Space Weather Office (OPS-SW).
• Planetary Defence Office (OPS-SP).
• Space Debris Office (OPS-SD).
• Clean Space Office (OPS-SC).
• Frequency Management Office (OPS-SF).

The Planetary Defence Office (PDO) is addressing the "…prediction and detection [of] the potential impact of a near-Earth object". Concerning the information needs for NEO monitoring, the following are defined:

• knowledge of the current and future positions of all NEO objects above a given size threshold or risk level, in particular their minimum fly-by distance to the Earth and time of this event.
• maintain awareness of collision risks with the Earth.
• access to verifiable, dependable, timely data with integrity and known accuracy.

The top-level Office tasks are:

• issue NEO impact warnings and news releases.
• provide direct access to data in the NEO database.
• provide access to data in the NEO database available only via registration.
• perform additional observations.
• provide high priority information.
• provide educational and outreach material.
• provide user tools.

The PDO is structured along three vertical pillars differentiating following activity area:

• observation.
• information provision.
• mitigation.

You can see following domains of the department's expertise:

• ground Station Engineering.
• flight Dynamics and Mission Analysis.
• mission Operations Data Systems Engineering.
• navigation Support.
• multi-Mission Infrastructure – Ground Segment Integration and Testing.

For further details, interested candidates are encouraged to visit:

Candidates interested are encouraged to visit the ESA website:

Field(s) of activity for the internship

You can choose between the following topics:

Topic 1: NEOCC Weighting Scheme for Orbit Determination

Orbit determination is the immediate step needed after the discovery or the reobservation of an asteroid. This is typically achieved by gathering all the observations obtained of a given object and reported to the Minor Planet Center (MPC), and then using them in a dedicated paratemer estimation process meant to determine the orbital elements of the treated object.

In this internship, you will contribute to the development of a methodology for evaluating the quality of asteroid observations used in orbit computation and impact risk analysis. Your main task will be to design and implement a method to evaluate and assign weights to individual optical observations based on their statistical properties. This will involve:

• analysing the distribution of residuals (differences between observed and computed positions).
• defining rules for assigning weights to different observatories based on performance and data volume.
• exploring different strategies for assigning weights, such as excluding low-quality data and giving more weight to high-confidence observations.
• implementing a procedure to regularly perform this analysis as new data become available.
• assessing how different weighting approaches affect the results of the orbit determination process and, if possible, their influence on impact risk estimates.
• performing tests to measure predictive accuracy by checking how well orbits computed from a short observation time span can reproduce later observations.

Through this internship, you will gain experience in handling real astronomical data, performing statistical analysis, improving scientific software, and evaluating the effects of observation quality on orbit predictions. You will also become familiar with methods used in planetary defense and the practical challenges of processing observational data for scientific and operational purposes.

Topic 2: Radar as a follow-up for NEOMIR imminent impactors discoveries

ESA's forthcoming NEOMIR spacecraft will watch the Sun-facing sky from the Sun–Earth L1 point and is expected to warn of asteroids 20 m in diameter at least three weeks before Earth impact. Because these objects approach from solar elongations that are unobservable from Earth, optical follow-up is impossible. Ground-based planetary RADAR, however, can illuminate and receive echoes from targets even in daylight, yielding precise range-Doppler astrometry and physical characterization. Currently, only a few non-european facilities are capable of performing routine radar observations. Quantifying what hardware is actually needed to support NEOMIR is therefore of immediate value to ESA's Planetary Defence Office and to the broader radar-astronomy community to provide guidance to the development of European radar facilities for Near-Earth objects observations.

Between 2021 and 2024 the ESA Planetary Defence Office ran the "NEO Observation Concepts for Radar Systems" study. The project assessed the functional requirements for a dedicated European planetaryradar capability, surveyed all candidate antennas, and executed bistatic test campaigns using European dishes. This study concluded that Europe is possessing enough large dishes to act as a high-gain receiver, but still lacks the high-power transmitter comparable to American assets.

Internship Objectives

• Synthetic population & discovery simulation:
• import the official NEOMIR end-to-end detection simulations to produce orbital elements, epochs, H-magnitudes, and discovery circumstances for imminent impactors.
• Observation-window analysis:
• propagate each object from discovery epoch to impact, compute geometric constraints and identify time windows when the target is above 15° elevation for major radar sites.
• Link-budget & SNR modelling:
• implement the radar equation (monostatic and bistatic), including transmitter power, antenna gain, wavelength, target radar-cross-section, system temperature, and integration time.
• evaluate current and potential future radar systems.
• Pointing-uncertainty requirements:
• from NEOMIR's expected astrometric precision, estimate plane-of-sky uncertainty growth; derive the maximum admissible 1-σ ephemeris error (in arcminutes and km/s Doppler) that still keeps the echo inside the receiver bandwidth and range window.
• Synthesis:
• recommend a minimum-viable radar architecture (or network) that allows for follow-up of NEOMIR imminent impactors discoveries.

The internship will deliver the first quantitative assessment of how (and whether) existing or planned ground-based radar assets can secure the rapid, high-precision orbit refinement that NEOMIR-detected impactors will require. The results can feed directly into ESA's infrastructure road-maps, support proposals for European radar upgrades, and ultimately enhance Earth's planetary-defense readiness.

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.

Additional requirements for internship topic 1:

• background in Python programming.
• basic knowledge of statistics is highly desirable for this internship.
• familiarity with data analysis tools or scientific computing will be considered an asset.

Additional requirements for internship topic 2:

• background in Python programming.
• familiarity with signal theory and/or radio astronomy will be considered an asset.

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

Important Information and Disclaimer

During the recruitment process, the Agency may request applicants to undergo selection tests.

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. Applicants from Canada as a Cooperating State can apply as well as those from Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus and Malta as European Cooperating States (ECS).

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