04/11/2024920 views7 likes
ESA /Education /ESA Academy
In brief
ESA’sEducationOfficeis looking for 30 talented engineering students who would like to delve into the fascinating world of spacecraft communications. The Ladybird Guide to Spacecraft Communications Training Course 2025 will be held at the Training and Learning Facility in the European Space Security and Education Centre (ESEC), Belgium, from 10 to 14 February 2025.
In-depth
When we talk about space missions, few people first mention communications systems, yet sending commands to a satellite and receiving data back is paramount. Given the criticality and complexity of spacecraft communications, it is fair to argue that there would be no space missions without highly skilled communications engineers.
This training course will consist of lectures, group discussions, presentation of real cases and exercises. The lectures will be delivered by an ESA engineer of theMission OperationsDepartment of ESOC and will include real stories of operations engineers trying to rescue spacecraft in complex situations, and discussions about the implications of the way communications systems are designed, how they are used, and what problems might occur.
Thanks to the OPS-SAT Space Lab team, students will be introduced to real operational maneuvres. They will simulate operations and communications with their own spacecraft with hands-on exercises. After designing a communication system for a specific mission, they will be asked to see how it holds up when the mission experiences an anomaly taken from real life. They will be presented with the information available to an operations team at the time the problem occurs and will have to ask themselves "What went wrong?", and more importantly "What can we do now?”.
Also, the students will learn about ESA’sEuropean Space Security and Education Centre(ESEC) and the on-site activities in Redu, includingGalileoandPROBAspacecraft operations.
By the end of the training course, the students will have a solid understanding of the challenges of communicating with a spacecraft and the subsystems involved in communications, both on board and on the ground: what can go wrong, troubleshooting, and traps to be avoided during operations and testing.
Preliminary schedule
| Day 1 | Introduction Group exercise introduction Modulation |
| Day 2 | Demodulation Coding |
| Day 3 | Protocols Transmission Visit of ESEC-Redu |
| Day 4 | Reception Real ground stations A story to bring it together |
| Day 5 | Final group exercise Conclusion |
Who can apply?
To participate, students must fulfil the following criteria at the time of application:
- Aged a minimum of 18 years old. ESA Academy and relevant partners will only appraise applications from students who have no - or limited - professional experience in relevant engineering or space-related topics;
- Be a citizen of anESA Member State, Canada*, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia or Slovenia;
- Be studying for an engineering degree at Bachelor, Master, or PhD level;
- Students who graduate before the Course delivery and will not continue their studies are not eligible.
Selected students will be expected to attend all 5 days of the course. They will be sponsored by ESA to cover accommodation and meals, as well as up to 300 Euros for travelling to Belgium.
ESA is committed to achieving diversity and creating an inclusive professional environment. To this end, we welcome proposals and applications from all eligible candidates irrespective of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, beliefs, age, disability, or other characteristics. The ESA Academy strongly encourages inclusiveness within its programmes and within participating teams, which contributes to the enrichment of our programme.
Whenever possible, we seek to accommodate individuals with disabilities by providing the necessary support, either digitally or at the location of the training. If you have any questions or specific needs, please reach out toacademy.training@esa.intto get assistance or advice during the application process.
How to apply
- Fill in theapplication form;
- Upload a motivation letter (PDF, maximum 1 page, no images);
- Upload a CV (PDF, in Europass format, maximum 2 pages, no images);
- Upload a formal recommendation letter (PDF, maximum 1 page, including signature, no images) from a university professor or academic supervisor from your current university (if it is not possible to receive the recommendation letter from your referee, please ask them to send a recommendation email to academy.training@esa.int before the application deadline);
- Upload a copy of your Transcript of Grades from the two previous semesters, or, if not available, the previous graded academic year (PDF).
All answers and documents should be in English (Transcript of Grades can be submitted in the language of the hosting university, if unavailable in English).
*Canadian students enrolled in a Canadian post-secondary institution may apply for additional support from the Canadian Space Agency through thisAnnouncement of Opportunity(grant applications must be submitted at least 7 weeks before the course delivery and account creation 3 weeks before the submission deadline – create an account soon!). This additional support is to cover costs that are not already covered by ESA for selected Canadian post-secondary students.
The deadline for applications is 9 December 2024 23:59 CET.
For more information, please contact academy.training@esa.int.
