Internal Research Fellow (PostDoc) in POD for High Altitude GNSS Exploitation and Moon Missions

Internal Research Fellowship Opportunity in the Directorate of Operations.

ESA is an equal opportunity employer, committed to achieving diversity within the workforce and creating an inclusive working environment. For this purpose, we welcome applications from all qualified candidates irrespective of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, beliefs, age, disability or other characteristics. Applications from women are encouraged.

This post is classified F2 on the Coordinated Organisations’ salary scale .

Location
ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany  

The Ground Systems Engineering and Innovation Department is responsible for all the ground systems engineering and support activities required to support mission operations and implement innovation.
The Department maintains and manages a full level of competences, technologies and services in all engineering disciplines related to ground systems, infrastructure, technology evolution and Engineering R&T and innovation.

The Department provides expert support in these areas to the Directorate of Operations for all current and potential missions and leads, in the role of architect, ground systems evolution and innovation implementation in the infrastructure.

The Department is furthermore responsible for the overall technical standardisation coordination for the ground segment, in particular in the Management Council of the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS).

The Department relies on the following domains of 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: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Operations/gse/Building_infrastructure_on_Earth_to_support_satellites_in_space

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

In the evolving landscape of space technology, the reliance on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals at high altitudes has become increasingly prevalent. This shift necessitates a comprehensive understanding of the GNSS Space Service Volume (SSV), encompassing the region between 3,000 km and 36,000 km above Earth's surface, where GNSS performance is critical for precise positioning. The SSV regions also extend beyond the Earth-bound orbits and are fundamental to be considered for missions in an Earth-Moon transfer orbit as well as in the vicinity of the Moon.

The United Nations' International Committee on GNSS (ICG) has fostered collaboration, with the ESA Navigation Support Office actively participating in the exploitation of GNSS SSV and ensuring GNSS interoperability [RF1]. As part of this endeavour, ESA is collaborating on real missions that will fly in the near future in these regions, such as Proba-3, flying in a high elliptical orbit with apogee above the GNSS constellations, and to the Moon and around it, such as Lunar Pathfinder and the Lunar Gateway, aiming to explore and exploit the potential of the GNSS SSV signals in space. It is the objective of the Navigation Support Office to be ready to exploit these signals to perform  Precise Orbit Determination (POD) in this still unexplored region in space.

In this context, you will address the unique challenges posed by high SSV and regions beyond, with particular attention and focus on precise orbit determination performed in high orbital regimes, during the lunar transfer orbits, along Moon-bound orbits and for the positioning of rovers and landers/stations on the Moon itself. The current POD concepts, approaches, and algorithms require a thorough review and potential redesign to fully exploit the potential of the SSV in these high regions, also accounting for future upgrades of the current Earth-bound GNSS systems (e.g., constellations extension, interoperability), and future Lunar GNSS-like constellations, such as the ESA Moonlight initiative. Furthermore, the current paradigm for flight operation is based on tracking campaigns with ground-based measurements, which require post-processing prior to being available on orbit; innovative GNSS-based concepts can significantly shorten the lead time before an OD solution is available, with a potential reduction in mission complexity and overall cost.

This research opportunity calls for a comprehensive review of existing POD concepts and algorithms, followed by the proposal, design, implementation, and testing of innovative approaches for precise navigation in the high SSV, and to, around and on the Moon, and their integration in the new Navigation Support Office POD software.

Knowledge relevant to the field of research

Research/publication record

Ability to conduct research autonomously

Breadth of exposure coming from past and/or current research/activities

Ability to gather and share relevant information

General interest in space and space research

Result Orientation
Operational Efficiency
Fostering Cooperation
Relationship Management
Continuous Improvement
Forward Thinking 

You should have recently completed, or be close to completion of a PhD in a related technical or scientific discipline. Preference  will  be  given  to applications submitted by candidates within five years of receiving their PhD.

In particular for this position, the following is required:

PhD in engineering, physics or a related field.

You should also have expertise in:

• orbit determination & user positioning in different regimes – orbiters, landers, rovers (experienced)
• time synchronization (experienced)
• batch and Kalman filter (experienced)
• GNSS and other observables (experienced)
• orbital dynamics (experienced)
• software design & development (experienced)
• Python (experienced)
• C++ (good)
• Fortran
• Linux knowledge
• Software configuration management (GitLab or similar)
• documentation & quality management experience

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.     

Other information

For behavioural competencies expected from ESA staff in general, please refer to the ESA Competency Framework .

For further information on the Internal Research Fellowship Programme please visit: Internal Research Fellowship

The Agency may require applicants to undergo selection tests.

In addition to your CV and your motivation letter, please add your proposal of no more than 5 pages outlining your proposed research in the "additional documents" field of the "application information" section.

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 at [email protected] .

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Please note that applications are only considered from nationals of one of the following States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Nationals from Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia, as Associate Member States, or Canada as a Cooperating State, can apply as well as those from Bulgaria, Croatia and Cyprus as European Cooperating States (ECS).

According to the ESA Convention, the recruitment of staff must take into account an adequate distribution of posts among nationals of the ESA Member States*. When short-listing for an interview, priority will first be given to candidates from under-represented Member States *.

In accordance with the European Space Agency’s security procedures and as part of the selection process, successful candidates will be required to undergo basic screening before appointment conducted by an external background screening service. 

*Member States, Associate Members or Cooperating States.