ESA Academy’s CubeSat Summer School is open for applications
Do you want to participate in a CubeSat project, but don’t know where to start? Or is your dream to have a career in the space sector, but you’re not sure what skills you need or which space-related subjects to specialise in? If so, ESA Education Office's CubeSat Summer School 2024, is for you! Taking place over four weeks from 5 to 30 August 2024 at ESEC-Galaxia (Transinne, Belgium), applications are now open for university students with engineering, physics and business management backgrounds.
During the Summer School, ESA and external experts will deliver an extensive mix of lectures and hands-on activities. The entire project lifecycle of a satellite mission will be covered, from design to verification, launch and operations, including typical milestone reviews and new methodologies. Students will be introduced to legal, cybersecurity, and economic aspects of space projects. The Summer School will even introduce space entrepreneurship skills, offering support in devising methods of turning a CubeSat into a viable and profitable business opportunity!
Have a look at the programme here.
Upon completing the CubeSat Summer School 2024, participating students will have gained the multidisciplinary knowledge and skills needed to undertake CubeSat or other space-related projects, be confident with engineering and project management standards, and be better prepared to join the European space sector.
More information is available in the CubeSat Summer School description.
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 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 States, Canada*, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia or Slovenia;
- be enrolled as a 3rd/4th year Bachelor, Master, or PhD student in a university for the academic year 2023-2024;
- be studying an engineering, physics or business subject with basic knowledge in space science and technology.
Importantly, for this edition of the CubeSat Summer School, we are also looking for 10 students studying business management who will follow the Summer School online from the 19th to 27th of August (about 3 to 4 hours a day every morning) and will be invited to join the other students onsite from the 28th to 30th of August at ESEC-Galaxia (Transinne, Belgium). To find more information please follow this link.
Additionally, ESA Academy is offering the opportunity for students to follow the course online. For more information on this aspect please follow this link.
Students interested in starting a CubeSat project or participating in an ongoing CubeSat project at their university, are encouraged to apply to this Summer School.
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. In case of any questions or specific needs, please reach out to tlp@esa.int to get assistance or advice during the application process.
The selected on-site students are required to attend the full four weeks of the Summer School and will be sponsored by ESA Education Office up to 300 Euros for travelling to Belgium and all accommodation and meals will be provided free of charge.
The selected online students are expected to attend fully the first two weeks of the Summers School or the last two weeks in case they apply for the online Business part of the CubeSat Summer School in order to obtain the certification.
*Canadian students enrolled in a Canadian post-secondary institution may apply for additional support from the Canadian Space Agency through this Announcement of Opportunity (grant applications should 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.
Students will be evaluated during the Summer School via group exercises and group presentations. Upon completion of the Summer School, students will receive a certificate of participation and a course transcript, allowing them to request ECTS credit(s) from their respective universities.
How to apply
- Complete the application form;
- Upload a motivation letter (PDF, maximum 1 page, no images);
- Upload a CV (PDF, Europass format, no images, maximum 2 pages);
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Upload an essay presenting your idea on how CubeSat(s) could contribute towards solving one of the challenges in any one of the following areas: (PDF, maximum word count: 500, no images);
- Navigation and Telecommunication
- Green and Digital Commercialisation
- Safety and Security (e.g., clean space, cyber resilience, space weather etc.)
- Space Exploration - Upload a formal recommendation letter (PDF, maximum 1 page, including signature, no images) from a university professor or academic supervisor of your current university (if not possible due to the current confinement situation in your country, please ask a university professor or an academic supervisor to send a recommendation email to tlp@esa.int);
- Upload a copy of academic records (PDF).
All answers and documents should be in English (except academic records if not available).
Students who wish to apply for the Summer School must submit their application by 22 April 2024 23:59 CET.
For more information, please contact tlp@esa.int.
