The European Space Agency (ESA) is recruiting an intern for resilient navigation systems in its Galileo and EGNOS Programme Department at ESTEC in Noordwijk, Netherlands. Applications close on 30 November 2026 at 23:59 CET/CEST. At Youth Works Hub, we reviewed the full vacancy: you would join the system security unit of the Galileo programme and investigate how future positioning, navigation and timing systems could become more resilient by relying less on ground infrastructure and more on the space segment.
ESA Resilient Navigation Systems Internship: Key Facts
🆔 Job Requisition ID: 20992
🎓 Type of appointment: Intern
🚀 Directorate: Resilience, Navigation and Connectivity
🏙️ Workplace: Noordwijk, NL
📍 Location: ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands
🌐 Publication method: external only
🏷️ Vacancy title as published: Intern in the Galileo and EGNOS Programme Department - Resilient Navigation Systems
⏳ Closing date: 30 November 2026, 23:59 CET/CEST
Your Team: The Galileo System Security Unit
You will be joining the system security unit of the Galileo programme, which forms part of the Directorate of Resilience, Navigation and Connectivity. The team is responsible for managing security activities throughout the programme, addressing both civil and governmental services to maintain robust end-to-end security standards.
What the Unit Does
The unit facilitates the definition of mission requirements and their subsequent evolution, integrating these into the system design while considering both performance and security.
Furthermore, the unit assists in prototyping user segment receivers and system validation tools, enabling the team to verify system capabilities and performance levels in advance and ensure compliance with mission, system and security specifications.
Candidates interested are encouraged to visit the ESA website.
The Internship Topic: More Resilient Positioning, Navigation and Timing
Your internship will look at how future positioning, navigation and timing systems could become more resilient by making better use of the space segment and reducing their dependence on ground infrastructure.
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The Challenge: Dependence on Ground Infrastructure
Today, the generation and maintenance of high-accuracy navigation information rely heavily on ground infrastructure. Precise satellite orbits and clocks are determined and monitored from the ground, while information such as Earth orientation parameters is also generated through ground-based processing and observations.
This creates a strong dependency between the space and ground segments and can represent a vulnerability to the resilience of the overall service. A disruption or loss of access to critical ground infrastructure could affect the ability to maintain accurate positioning, navigation and timing services.
New Space-Based Capabilities to Combine
At the same time, a number of new space-based capabilities are becoming available. Galileo provides a global navigation infrastructure, while new concepts involving low Earth orbit satellites, distributed navigation payloads and missions such as Genesis could provide additional measurements, precise timing and orbit determination capabilities.
The question is whether these different capabilities could be brought together as a system of systems, with the space segment itself providing a much larger part of the information currently generated on the ground.
What You Will Do During the Internship
As an intern, you will have the following tasks:
🏗️ Investigate what such an architecture could look like and, more importantly, what would be needed to make it work and improve the resilience of the overall system.
🧩 Look firstly at the functions currently performed by the ground segment and assess which of them could potentially be moved into space or supported by information exchanged between space-based assets, including orbit and clock determination, time and frequency synchronisation, Earth orientation information, navigation data generation and integrity monitoring.
🔗 Investigate then how different space assets could work together, including the measurements available from different types of satellites, the information that would need to be exchanged, possible inter-satellite links, distributed processing, the use of different orbital regimes, and how a common time and reference frame could be maintained across the system.
🔍 Identify, as a key part of the internship, what is still missing to make the system sufficiently autonomous and resilient, including assessing gaps that may require new technologies, additional measurements or a different system architecture, and evaluating their impact on the ability of the system to continue providing positioning, navigation and timing services when parts of the ground infrastructure are unavailable or degraded.
🗺️ Develop, as final objective, a possible roadmap towards a more autonomous and resilient space-based positioning, navigation and timing system, proposing how existing and future capabilities could complement each other, identifying the main technical and architectural challenges, and determining which developments would be needed to move from today's predominantly ground-supported architecture towards a system in which the space segment can increasingly determine, maintain and distribute its own navigation and timing information, even in the presence of disruptions to the ground segment.
Who Can Apply: Education
You must be a university student, preferably in your final or second-to-last year of university course at Master's level. In addition, you must be able to prove that you will be enrolled at your university for the entire duration of the internship.
Language and Interview Requirements
The working languages of the Agency are English and French. A good knowledge of one of these is required. Knowledge of another ESA Member State language is an asset.
During the interview, your motivation for applying to this role will be explored.
Behavioural Competencies
ESA assesses candidates against its Core Behavioural Competencies. The vacancy lists these six:
🎯 Result Orientation
⚙️ Operational Efficiency
🤝 Fostering Cooperation
📞 Relationship Management
♻️ Continuous Improvement
🧠 Forward Thinking
For more information, the vacancy refers to the ESA Core Behavioural Competencies guidebook.
Which Nationalities Can Apply?
Please note that applications are only considered from nationals of one of the following States: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
Duration, Start Date and Application Limit
According to ESA's announcement for the 2027 student internships, an internship lasts 3 to 6 months and starts from February 2027 onwards. The exact start date is agreed with the ESA tutor.
A candidate can apply for up to two ESA internship opportunities.
Selection Tests
During the recruitment process, the Agency may request applicants to undergo selection tests.
Export Control and Sanctions Eligibility
Applicants must be eligible to access information, technology, and hardware which is subject to European or US export control and sanctions regulations.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusiveness
ESA is an equal opportunity employer, committed to achieving diversity within the workforce and creating an inclusive working environment. It welcomes applications from all qualified candidates irrespective of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religious beliefs, age, disability or other characteristics.
Support for Applicants with Disabilities
At the Agency, diversity is valued and people with disabilities are welcome. Whenever possible, ESA seeks to accommodate individuals with disabilities by providing the necessary support at the workplace. The Human Resources Department can also provide assistance during the recruitment process. The contact email for this is listed at the end of this post.
Important Information
The information published on ESA's careers website regarding internship conditions is correct at the time of publication. It is not intended to be exhaustive and may not address all questions you would have. The vacancy does not state an allowance for this internship.
Find more opportunities like this in our internship and traineeship listings on Youth Works Hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where does the ESA resilient navigation systems internship take place?
The internship is based at ESTEC in Noordwijk, Netherlands, within the Galileo and EGNOS Programme Department and the Directorate of Resilience, Navigation and Connectivity.
What is the internship about?
It looks at how future positioning, navigation and timing systems could become more resilient by making better use of the space segment and reducing their dependence on ground infrastructure, for example for orbit and clock determination and Earth orientation information.
What will I work on during the internship?
You would investigate what a more space-based architecture could look like, assess which ground segment functions could move into space, study how different space assets could work together, identify what is still missing for autonomy and resilience, and develop a roadmap towards a more autonomous and resilient system.
Which team would I join?
You would join the system security unit of the Galileo programme. It manages security activities throughout the programme for both civil and governmental services, supports the definition of mission requirements and assists in prototyping user segment receivers and system validation tools.
Who is eligible to apply?
You must be a university student, preferably in your final or second-to-last year at Master's level, and you must be able to prove that you will be enrolled at your university for the entire duration of the internship. You must also be a national of one of the States listed in the vacancy.
Which languages do I need?
The working languages of ESA are English and French, and a good knowledge of one of them is required. Knowledge of another ESA Member State language is an asset.
How long is the internship and when does it start?
According to ESA's 2027 student internships announcement, internships last 3 to 6 months and begin from February 2027 onwards. The exact start date is agreed with the ESA tutor.
How many ESA internships can I apply for?
A candidate can apply for up to two ESA internship opportunities, according to ESA's announcement for the 2027 student internships.
What happens after I apply?
The Agency may request applicants to undergo selection tests. During the interview, your motivation for applying to this role will be explored.
Do I need to be eligible for export control and sanctions regulations?
Yes. Applicants must be eligible to access information, technology, and hardware which is subject to European or US export control and sanctions regulations.
Does the vacancy mention a stipend?
The vacancy does not state an allowance for this internship. ESA notes that the information on its careers website regarding internship conditions is correct at the time of publication but is not intended to be exhaustive.
What is the application deadline?
Applications close on 30 November 2026 at 23:59 CET/CEST.
Deadline
⏳ 30 November 2026
Links
🔗 Apply now (ESA vacancy 20992): https://jobs.esa.int/job/Noordwijk-Intern-in-the-Galileo-and-EGNOS-Programme-Department-Resilient-Navigation-Systems/1452921233/
📰 ESA Student Internships 2027: https://www.esa.int/About_Us/Careers_at_ESA/ESA_Student_Internships_2027_are_now_open
🌌 ESA website: https://www.esa.int
📧 Contact for disability support: ESA.Student.Internships@esa.int
