Call for applications for the restyled Ladybird Guide to Spacecraft Operations Training Course
In October 2023, ESA Academy’s Ladybird Guide to Spacecraft Operations Training Course is returning in a 5-day version, at both the ESA Education Training Centre in ESEC-Galaxia, Belgium, and the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Germany. This training course offers university students the opportunity to learn about the fascinating world of spacecraft operations.
To bring this fascinating world of challenges and satisfaction to life for university students contemplating a career in the space sector, ESA is organising again the Ladybird Guide to Spacecraft Operations Training Course, a technical course without excessive mathematics or technical jargon, from the 9th to 13th of October 2023.
This course shows students how ‘driving’ a spacecraft is different from designing it. When it comes to spacecraft, it is the launch itself that grabs all the headlines. Once in orbit, we only tend to hear about the satellite again when it returns a great result or a spectacular image. But spacecraft do not take care of themselves on their own. The unsung heroes of any space mission are the people working in operations. They are the ones who work 24/7 to ensure that the spacecraft is healthy, returning the most data, and functioning at peak efficiency. In addition, these are the operators who diagnose problems with satellites and work out how to make them function properly again.
The course is suitable for BSc, MSc and PhD students who want to quickly acquire a feeling for the broad spectrum of disciplines that are part of spacecraft operations.
Taught by an experienced engineer who works for the Operations Department of ESOC, the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, the course will be delivered through formal lectures but with a heavy emphasis placed on the interaction with the students.
The way specific subsystems of a spacecraft like Attitude, Determination and Control Subsystem (ADCS), Orbit Control System (OCS), Power, On Board Data Handling (OBDH), Telemetry, Telecommunication & Control (TT&C), Thermal and On Board Software (OBS), have been designed has a bearing on the way operations are carried out, and this will be highlighted and discussed. The course will include a session on the physiological traps to be avoided during operations and testing. Real stories of operational staff battling with wayward spacecraft – sometimes winning and sometimes losing – will be used whenever appropriate.
The four first days of the course will be delivered at ESA Education Training Centre in Belgium. The students will visit ESA’s European Space Security and Education Centre (ESEC) and learn about its on-site activities, including Galileo and PROBA spacecraft’s operations.
In addition, they will experience a live operations “close up” thanks to ESA’s OPS-SAT spacecraft and take part in a group exercise.
On the final day, and for the first time in this course, students will have the opportunity to visit to the European Space Operations Center (ESOC) in Germany and meet different operations engineers. Their experience will end with a real-life simulation in the ESOC’s famous Main Control Room where they will attempt to rescue their spacecraft.
Preliminary schedule
| Day 1 | Introduction - the difference between design and operations engineers Mission design and payloads Attitude Dynamic and Control Subsystems Group work |
| Day 2 | Orbit Control System Power Thermal Group Work |
| Day 3 | Telemetry, Telecommunication & Command On Board Data Handling On Board Software Group Work |
| Day 4 | Wrap-up Visit of ESEC-Redu Introduction to the Galileo Programme |
| Day 5 | Visit of ESOC Final group exercise Conclusion |
Who can apply?
Students enrolled in university who fulfil the following criteria:
- aged minimum 18 years old. ESA Academy and relevant partners will only appraise applications from students who have no or limited professional experience in relevant scientific, engineering or other space-related topics;
- be a citizen of an ESA Member State, Canada, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Slovakia or Slovenia;
- be enrolled as a Bachelor, Master, or PhD student in a university for the year 2023-2024;
- be studying an engineering subject or physics (with basic knowledge in space technology).
The selected students will be sponsored by ESA. This will cover accommodation and meals as well as up to 300 Euros for travelling to Belgium.
Upon completion of the training course students will be evaluated via the group project and will receive a certificate of participation and a course transcript, allowing them to request ECTS credit(s) from their respective universities.
How to apply?
- Fill in the application form;
- Upload a motivation letter (PDF, maximum 1 page, no images);
- Upload a CV (PDF, Europass format, no images, maximum 2 pages);
- Upload a formal recommendation letter (PDF, maximum 1 page, including signature, no images) from a university professor or academic supervisor of current university (if not possible to receive the recommendation letter from your reference, please ask them to send a recommendation email to tlp@esa.int before the application deadline);
- Upload a copy of academic records (PDF).
All answers and documents should be in English (except academic records if not available).
The deadline for applications is the 24th of July 2023 23:59 CEST.
For more information, please contact tlp@esa.int.