Internship in Satellite System Ground Segments Division

Internship in Satellite System Ground Segments Division

Internship title: 3D Engines for Satellite Simulators

SIMULUS is a framework for the development of satellite simulators (SATSIM). It was developed at the European Space Agency to streamline and speed up the development of Satellite Operational Simulators, used to train the Flight Control Teams that operate spacecrafts. SIMULUS is operated by EUMETSAT Flight Control Teams and maintained by the Monitoring &Control Applications and Tools Competence Area (MCAT) which is part of the Satellite Ground Segments Division.

The internship focuses on prototyping the integration of advanced 3D visualization engines—Panda3D, Babylon.js, Blender, CadQuery, and Unreal Engine—into SATSIM, moving beyond current hierarchical tree, table, and plot-based displays. The intent is to provide a top-down, real-time, interactive visual representation of a satellite and its subsystems, each reflecting its simulation status in a rich 3D environment. This will allow also FCTs to navigate S/C documentation, FDIR etc when preparing scenarios.

Duties

After an initial period of familiarisation with EUMETSAT and the particularities of EUMETSAT’s satellite simulators, the trainee should go through the following steps:

• Review existing EUMETSAT’s Satellite Simulators technical documentation;

• Review existing EUMETSAT’s Software Development and Systems Engineering practices documentation (including familiarisation with operational procedures and techniques);

• Generate, in coordination with the different Flight Control Teams, a set of operational and non-operational scenarios in order to produce user and system requirements which will serve as technical specification for the visualisation tools;

• Generate the required Software code for the advanced 3D visualization engines ensuring that user and system requirements are fulfilled;

• Integrate the developed system in the MCAT AIV environments and ensure that non-regression testing is properly defined;

• Verify and validate, in coordination with the different Flight Control Teams, the system and user requirements using operational scenarios;

• Evaluate the performance of such systems under the different scenarios;

• Generate corresponding reports and Technical Notes Generate along with a final technical report.

LOCATION

Darmstadt, Germany

QUALIFICATIONS

The internships are open to bachelor and master students with mandatory internship requirements in relevant disciplines such as Computer science/spacecraft engineering.

LANGUAGES

The official languages of EUMETSAT are English and French. It is necessary to be able to work effectively in English.

DEADLINE

19 November 2026

Skills and Experience

• Have the ability to work effectively in English;

• Be computer literate;

• Be intrinsically motivated and curious about the internship subject;

• Be able to work independently and collaboratively;

• Have the ability to take the initiative in researching ideas;

• Have the ability to collect, collate, conceptualize and present information clearly.

Additional advantageous requirements:

• First experience in either C, C++, Python and Groovy;

• Some understanding of Software development and architectures;

• Some understanding of Space Systems Engineering;

• Some understanding of Spacecraft Engineering;

• First experience in reading and assessing technical documentation.

Employment Conditions

Length of internship: 3 months Anticipated start date: 2027

The internship will require a non-disclosure agreement and potentially a basic background check for the intern, due to the sensitivity of the provided information.

No salary is paid to interns who are still in studies, however a daily allowance and contribution to travel / accommodation costs may be provided.

Interns may be granted a daily allowance of EUR 25 per day, relocation cost reimbursement of up to EUR 400, and accommodation cost reimbursement of up to EUR 1000 per month.

Interns are responsible for providing their own health and accident insurance and for finding their own accommodation in Darmstadt.

Consideration may also be given if the internship is not a mandatory part of curriculum, for a maximum duration of three months.

EUMETSAT is committed to providing an equal opportunities work environment for men and women. Please note that only nationals of EUMETSAT Member States may apply. The EUMETSAT Convention requires that Staff shall be recruited on the basis of their qualifications, account being taken of the international character of EUMETSAT.

About EUMETSAT

EUMETSAT is Europe’s meteorological satellite agency. Its role is to establish and operate meteorological satellites to monitor the weather and climate from space - 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This information is supplied to the National Meteorological Services of the organisation's Member States in Europe, as well as other users worldwide.

EUMETSAT also operates several Copernicus missions on behalf of the European Union and provide data services to the Copernicus marine and atmospheric services and their users.

As an intergovernmental European Organisation, EUMETSAT has 30 Member States (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.)