Spaceship ECSAT

The facility – located at ESA’s European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications (ECSAT) in Oxfordshire – is one of four ESA Spaceship initiatives across Europe.

What are ESA’s Spaceship initiatives?

As ESA works with its partners on ambitious plans to explore the Moon and the beyond in the next decades, ESA’s Spaceship initiatives are bringing together young researchers, ESA teams, and industry professionals to advance these endeavours.

ESA’s Spaceships provide a collaborative, dynamic environment in which students work with experts to find creative solutions to technical challenges thrown up by space exploration programmes.

Such activities are known within the aerospace industry as “skunkworks” and typically involve small, specialised teams within large organisations working to quickly investigate the feasibility of new concepts. The aim is to create a hands-on demonstration or prototype technology over the course of just a few months.

Supporting the aims of a globally agreed exploration road map, ESA’s Spaceships investigate key technologies of space exploration – from the use of extra-terrestrial resources to the development of off-planet energy systems, and much more.

Technologies developed at ESA’s Spaceships can also be applied to other domains, such as in-orbit service and manufacturing, and downstream applications.

Which areas does Spaceship ECSAT focus on?

Each of ESA’s four Spaceships concentrates on its own area of expertise, with Spaceship ECSAT focusing on:

• Virtual and augmented reality environments that simulate lunar processes and activities
• Robotics systems – including remote manipulators and autonomous rovers – that could facilitate lunar applications, as well as in-orbit servicing and manufacturing
• Astronaut assistant technologies designed to support astronaut training and activities

Projects at Spaceship ECSAT are completed in collaboration with experts at ECSAT’s many cutting-edge facilities.

Spaceship ECSAT activities are carried out in partnership with the Vulcan Facility, which is home to a collection of terrestrial rocks and dust that mimic material found on other planets.

Vulcan hosts Spaceship ECSAT’s state-of-the-art remote manipulator, which is used by interns to test out prototype software and hardware designed to support the remote handling of lunar simulants.

Spaceship ECSAT also works closely with ESA’s 5G/6G Hub, a research and demonstration facility that spurs industry collaboration to advance the 5G digital transformation and prepare for 6G.

What are students at Spaceship ECSAT working on?

Spaceship ECSAT kicked off its activities in October 2023 and, every three-to-six months, it welcomes a new generation of interns.

So far, interns have created virtual reality environments to practice regolith manipulation on the Moon; modelled the processes that take place when a spacecraft touches down on the lunar surface; built prototype robotic hands designed to grab satellites in orbit; and much more.

Discover more about Spaceship ECSAT interns and their projects by flicking through the images below. 

Applying to join Spaceship ECSAT

Applications for Spaceship ECSAT internship opportunities are now closed but new opportunities will be posted in the coming months on the Careers at ESA pages.