Intern in Exploration Technologies for Human Spaceflight in Wahn bei European Space Agency

Our team and mission

This position is based at the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) - Near Cologne, Germany

The Directorate of Human and Robotic Exploration (D/HRE) is the main ESA entity in charge of supporting and coordinating efforts towards the current and the future endeavours of human spaceflight. The exploration activities are part of the strategic plans in securing a central role for Europe with respect to the global initiatives. The European Exploration Envelope Programme (E3P) is integrating the ESA activities in this field to ensure a single exploration process. The strategy includes three destinations where humans will work with robots to gather new knowledge: Low Earth Orbit (LEO), the Moon, and Mars.

The “Spaceship EAC” initiative is investigating low Technology Readiness Level (TRL) technologies for supporting the future cislunar space mission as well as surface activities on the Moon as part of the Exploration Preparation, Research and Technology (ExPeRT) team. This multidisciplinary, innovation-driven team composed by researchers, graduate and undergraduate students is based at the ESA European Astronaut Centre (EAC). The mission of “Spaceship EAC” is to enhance, enable, and inspire. By leveraging the spaceflight experience at EAC, we aim to develop and validate new operational concepts and technologies to support human exploration of the Moon. We adopt a practical, research-focused approach and share our findings with ESA, our partners, and the scientific community.

Within Spaceship EAC, we have a number of fields where we carry out different projects. These fields are:

Additionally, the Spaceship team is involved in supporting the development of our new LUNA facility at EAC. This facility will serve as a central hub for lunar exploration preparations at ESA and DLR. It features a 700 sqm lunar surface testbed, facilitating the development and validation of operational concepts, astronaut training, and technology demonstrations for Moon exploration. Additionally, the facility will showcase elements of an analogue Moon base, such as a habitat/laboratory module, and a regenerative energy system among others. We are continually looking for innovative applicants with skills or interests in these areas to join the Spaceship EAC team. An outline of some of the projects that we have recently been progressing can be found at the ESA blog. For more information on Spaceship EAC internships, please look at the Spaceship EAC blog (Spaceship EAC – ESA – Exploration)