Youth Works Hub has collected 38 ESA internships in Germany, all with one deadline: 30 November 2026. The calls come from the European Space Agency and are based in Darmstadt and Porz-Wahn, for university students looking for a 3 to 6 month placement in mission operations, ground systems engineering, space safety, human and robotic exploration or communication.
Most calls prefer students at Master's level, and the topics run from Python tools for flight control teams to space debris, space weather and astronaut health. Not sure which format suits you? Read how a fellowship differs from an internship, and see how we verify opportunities before we list them.
Each call has its own angle:
🇩🇪 Germany: Work with the flight control team of JUICE, the mission heading to Jupiter's icy moons, in Darmstadt.
🇩🇪 Germany: Investigate why the link between the spacecraft clock and ground time drifts on two orbiters circling Mars.
🇩🇪 Germany: Develop methods that combine repeated lunar orbital observations into higher resolution surface imagery.
🇩🇪 Germany: Support the Zero Debris Approach with the Space Debris Office in Darmstadt or Noordwijk.
🇩🇪 Germany: Support research on Blood Flow Restriction training as an exercise countermeasure for astronaut health in Porz-Wahn.
🇩🇪 Germany: Build Unreal Engine tools for astronauts and work with a Meta Quest 3 headset in Porz-Wahn.
🇩🇪 Germany: Get hands-on with a humanoid robot platform, from walking on uneven lunar analogue terrain to XR-based teleoperation.
🇩🇪 Germany: Produce videos that astronauts may watch on board the International Space Station.
Every internship in this batch lasts 3 to 6 months, and all 38 calls close on the same day. Twenty-seven placements are in Darmstadt and eleven are in Porz-Wahn, with two calls also naming Noordwijk as a possible location. 📅 Deadlines: 30 Nov (38) 🌍 Countries: 🇩🇪 Germany (38)
What's in this batch:
38 Internships · 1 Country
💼 Internships & Traineeships
1. 🇩🇪 Infrastructure Analytics and Anomaly Detection Intern 📊 ESA Mission Operations Department Internship in Darmstadt, Germany 🛰️
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Darmstadt, Germany · 👥 Master's students · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The Infrastructure Analytics and Anomaly Detection internship in Darmstadt turns infrastructure logs into operational insight. Interns build dashboards that track infrastructure health and test anomaly detection techniques, and the placement suits Master's students familiar with containers, Kubernetes and the ELK stack.
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2. 🇩🇪 Solar Orbiter Mission Planning System Automation Intern 🛰️ ESA Internship in Darmstadt, Germany 🚀
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Darmstadt, Germany · 👥 Master's students · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The Solar Orbiter Mission Planning System Automation internship places interns with the Solar Orbiter flight control team in Darmstadt to automate weekly mission planning. It is open to Master's students with Python and Linux/Bash scripting skills.
3. 🇩🇪 Space Debris Office Intern 🛰️ ESA Space Safety Programme Internship in Darmstadt, Germany ☄️
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Darmstadt or Noordwijk · 👥 Master's students · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The Space Debris Office internship supports the Zero Debris Approach, with a choice between analysing the space debris environment and working on debris mitigation and remediation concepts. It suits Master's students with Python, orbital mechanics or simulation skills.
4. 🇩🇪 AI, Data & Digital Twins Intern 🛰️ European Space Agency (ESA) Ground Systems Engineering & Innovation Department Internship in Darmstadt, Germany 🤖
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Darmstadt, Germany · 👥 Master's students · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The AI, Data & Digital Twins internship in Darmstadt offers four topics at the crossroads of AI and space operations, from data platform adoption to digital twins for health monitoring. It suits Master's students with a background in data science, machine learning or simulation.
5. 🇩🇪 Disruption Tolerant Networking Intern in Ground Systems Engineering & Innovation 🛰️ ESA Internship in Darmstadt, Germany 📡
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Darmstadt, Germany · 👥 Master's students · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The Disruption Tolerant Networking internship in Darmstadt focuses on Delay and Disruption Tolerant Networking, the technology behind a future Solar System Internet. It is open to Master's students with software skills in Java, Rust or C++ on Linux.
6. 🇩🇪 Security Engineering Intern 🔐 European Space Agency (ESA) Ground Systems Engineering & Innovation Department Internship in Darmstadt, Germany 🛰️
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Darmstadt, Germany · 👥 University students, ideally at Master's level · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The Security Engineering internship at a space operations centre in Darmstadt offers a choice between post-quantum cryptography research and designing a mission data interface for a next-generation mission control system. It is for students with a background in security engineering, network security or cryptography.
7. 🇩🇪 XMM-Newton and INTEGRAL Mission Operations 🛰️ European Space Agency (ESA) Internship in Darmstadt, Germany 🔭
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Darmstadt, Germany · 👥 University students, ideally at Master's level · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The XMM-Newton and INTEGRAL Mission Operations internship joins the flight control team behind an X-ray observatory and a gamma-ray observatory to help develop a real-time awareness system. Good Python skills and familiarity with web technologies are needed.
8. 🇩🇪 Navigation Support Office Intern 🛰️ ESA Ground Systems Engineering & Innovation Department Internship in Darmstadt, Germany 📡
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Darmstadt, Germany · 👥 University students, ideally at Master's level · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The Navigation Support Office internship in Darmstadt is with a team providing the position and timing reference for European missions, working with satellite navigation and geodetic data. Knowledge of orbit determination or geodesy is an asset.
9. 🇩🇪 Global Interplanetary Trajectory Optimisation Intern 🚀 ESA Ground Systems Engineering & Innovation Internship in Darmstadt, Germany 🛰️
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Darmstadt, Germany · 👥 University students, ideally at Master's level · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The Global Interplanetary Trajectory Optimisation internship in Darmstadt helps improve a software framework for interplanetary trajectory design, with a focus on global optimisation methods and GPU acceleration. It needs a solid background in applied mathematics, physics or aerospace engineering and good Python skills.
10. 🇩🇪 ExoMars Time Correlation Evolution Data Analysis 🛰️ ESA Mission Operations Internship in Darmstadt, Germany 📊
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Darmstadt, Germany · 👥 University students, preferably at Master's level · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The ExoMars Time Correlation Evolution Data Analysis internship joins the flight control team behind two orbiters circling Mars to investigate why the link between the spacecraft clock and ground time drifts. Along the way interns learn how spacecraft operations work.
11. 🇩🇪 Digital Content and Outreach for International Audiences Intern 📣 ESA Communication Department Internship in Darmstadt, Germany 🛰️
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Darmstadt, Germany · 👥 University students, preferably in a Master's course · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The Digital Content and Outreach for International Audiences internship in Darmstadt is for students who want to tell compelling stories about space. Interns help make articles and information sheets more engaging, support fact-checking and review translated content for audiences across Europe.
12. 🇩🇪 Space Weather Office Intern ☀️ ESA Space Safety Programme Internship in Darmstadt, Germany 🛰️
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Darmstadt, Germany · 👥 University students, preferably in a Master's course · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The Space Weather Office internship in Darmstadt offers two topics: the design of space weather missions and instruments, or front-end and UI/UX design for space weather products.
13. 🇩🇪 Mission Operations Department Deep Space and External Services Section Intern 📡 European Space Agency (ESA) Internship in Darmstadt, Germany 🛰️
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Darmstadt, Germany · 👥 University students, preferably in a Master's course · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The Deep Space and External Services Section internship in Darmstadt joins an experimental operations team, with a choice between digital intermediate frequency interoperability or ground station interface harmonisation.
14. 🇩🇪 Lunar Image Super-Resolution Intern 🌙 European Space Agency (ESA) Ground Systems Engineering & Innovation Internship in Darmstadt, Germany 🛰️
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Darmstadt, Germany · 👥 University students, preferably at Master's level · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The Lunar Image Super-Resolution internship at ESOC in Darmstadt develops methods that combine repeated lunar orbital observations into higher resolution surface imagery, which supports safer landing site selection for future missions.
15. 🇩🇪 Mission Operations Department ESTRACK Stations and Infrastructure Section Intern 📡 ESA Internship in Darmstadt, Germany 🛰️
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Darmstadt, Germany · 👥 University students, preferably at Master's level · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The ESTRACK Stations and Infrastructure Section internship at ESOC in Darmstadt works on the ESA Link Budget Tool and on sustainability metrics for ESTRACK, Europe's network of tracking stations.
16. 🇩🇪 Space Weather & OPS-SAT Lab Mission Operations Intern 🛰️ ESA Internship in Darmstadt, Germany 🚀
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Darmstadt, Germany · 👥 University students, preferably in the final or second-to-last year of a Master's course · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The Space Weather & OPS-SAT Lab internship at ESOC in Darmstadt covers space weather and the OPS-SAT Lab, an award winning space lab where experimenters can run their own software and firmware in space.
17. 🇩🇪 Frequency Management Office Intern 📡 European Space Agency (ESA) Space Safety Programme Internship in Darmstadt, Germany 🛰️
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Darmstadt, Germany · 👥 University students, preferably at Master's level · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The Frequency Management Office internship joins the Space Safety Programme at ESOC in Darmstadt, and the role calls for Matlab programming skills.
18. 🇩🇪 ESTRACK Antenna Performance Intern 📡 ESA Ground Systems Engineering & Innovation Department Internship in Darmstadt, Germany 🛰️
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Darmstadt, Germany · 👥 University students, preferably in their final or second-to-last Master's year · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The ESTRACK Antenna Performance internship at ESA's European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt builds a methodology and software framework to measure how well ESTRACK deep-space antennas perform. Knowledge of RF and Python is an asset.
19. 🇩🇪 Spacecraft Operations Intern, Astrophysics Missions Division 🛰️ ESA Internship in Darmstadt, Germany 🔭
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Darmstadt, Germany · 👥 University students, preferably in their final or second-to-last Master's year · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The Spacecraft Operations internship in the Astrophysics Missions Division works with the Flight Control Team of an ESA planet-hunting mission preparing for launch, building a framework for routine spacecraft monitoring and reporting. A computer science, software or data background is an asset.
20. 🇩🇪 Innovation and Knowledge Management Intern 💡 ESA Operations Strategy and Coordination Office Internship in Darmstadt, Germany 🛰️
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Darmstadt, Germany · 👥 University students, preferably in their final or second-to-last Master's year · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The Innovation and Knowledge Management internship at ESOC in Darmstadt supports the office that works directly with ESA's Director of Operations, and the aims of the work are set around your skills.
21. 🇩🇪 JUICE Flight Control Team Intern 🚀 ESA Mission Operations Department Internship in Darmstadt, Germany 🪐
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Darmstadt, Germany · 👥 University students · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The JUICE Flight Control Team internship in Darmstadt works with the team of JUICE, the mission heading to Jupiter's icy moons, with a choice between improving the mission planning system or developing telemetry monitoring tools.
22. 🇩🇪 Flight Dynamics Division Science Mission Support Section Intern 🛰️ ESA Internship in Darmstadt, Germany 🌌
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Darmstadt, Germany · 👥 University students · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The Science Mission Support Section internship in Darmstadt tests whether space weather data can make the tracking of interplanetary spacecraft more accurate, using interplanetary plasma data.
23. 🇩🇪 Web-Based Operations Tools Intern 🛰️ ESA Mission Operations Department Internship in Darmstadt, Germany 💻
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Darmstadt, Germany · 👥 University students · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The Web-Based Operations Tools internship in Darmstadt is for students who like building software, creating web-based tools for spacecraft flight control teams across both backend and frontend development.
24. 🇩🇪 Mission Analysis Section Intern 🛰️ ESA Ground Systems Engineering & Innovation Department Internship in Darmstadt, Germany 🚀
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Darmstadt, Germany · 👥 University students · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The Mission Analysis Section internship in Darmstadt focuses on building a trajectory optimisation framework for the Comet Interceptor mission.
25. 🇩🇪 Optical Technologies Section Intern 🔭 ESA Ground Systems Engineering & Innovation Department Internship in Darmstadt, Germany 🛰️
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Darmstadt, Germany · 👥 University students · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The Optical Technologies Section internship in Darmstadt offers a choice between two optics topics: satellite laser ranging or on-sky optical performance characterisation.
26. 🇩🇪 Visualisation and Communication Intern 🛰️ European Space Agency (ESA) Ground Systems Engineering & Innovation Department Internship in Darmstadt, Germany 🌌
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Darmstadt, Germany · 👥 University students, preferably at Master's level · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The Visualisation and Communication internship in Darmstadt offers a choice between building a 3D space operations visualisation platform or shaping communication and community building for space innovation.
27. 🇩🇪 Python Tools for Earth Explorer Flight Operations 🛰️ ESA Mission Operations Department Internship in Darmstadt, Germany 💻
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Darmstadt, Germany · 👥 University students, preferably at Master's level · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The Python Tools for Earth Explorer Flight Operations internship in Darmstadt designs Python scripts and tools that automate recurring tasks for the Flight Control Teams of five Earth Explorer missions.
28. 🇩🇪 Exploration Science Strategy Intern 🔬 ESA Human and Robotic Exploration Directorate Internship in Porz-Wahn, Germany 📚
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Porz-Wahn, Germany or Noordwijk, Netherlands · 👥 University students, preferably at Master's level · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The Exploration Science Strategy internship supports the consolidation of a human and robotic exploration science strategy, comparing priorities across space agencies and applying AI tools to spot knowledge gaps.
29. 🇩🇪 Real Estate and Facilities Management Intern 🏢 ESA European Astronaut Centre Internship in Porz-Wahn, Germany 🛰️
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Porz-Wahn, Germany · 👥 University students, preferably at Master's level · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The Real Estate and Facilities Management internship in Porz-Wahn supports day-to-day facility, workplace and site management, for students who want to see how an operational international site is run.
30. 🇩🇪 PANGAEA Analytical Toolset Intern 🪨 ESA CAVES & PANGAEA Team Internship in Porz-Wahn, Germany 🔬
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Porz-Wahn, Germany · 👥 University students, preferably at Master's level · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The PANGAEA Analytical Toolset internship in Porz-Wahn helps build the mineralogical and spectroscopic data side of a machine learning toolset used in planetary geology training, with interns reviewing the algorithm outputs as a subject expert.
31. 🇩🇪 Machine Learning Development Intern 🤖 ESA CAVES & PANGAEA Team Internship in Porz-Wahn, Germany 🛰️
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Porz-Wahn, Germany · 👥 University students · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The Machine Learning Development internship in Porz-Wahn works on software that recognises minerals and rocks for astronaut geology training, where interns develop and test machine learning classifiers.
32. 🇩🇪 Blood Flow Restriction Training Intern 💪 ESA Human Exploration Science Office Internship in Porz-Wahn, Germany 🚀
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Porz-Wahn, Germany · 👥 University students, preferably at Master's level · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The Blood Flow Restriction Training internship in Porz-Wahn supports research on Blood Flow Restriction training as an exercise countermeasure for astronaut health.
33. 🇩🇪 Video and Multimedia Production Intern 🎬 ESA Space Training Team Internship in Porz-Wahn, Germany 🚀
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Porz-Wahn, Germany · 👥 University students · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The Video and Multimedia Production internship in Porz-Wahn is about producing videos that astronauts may watch on board the International Space Station, plus infographics and animations for training material.
34. 🇩🇪 Robotics and IoT Lab Intern 🤖 ESA European Astronaut Centre Internship in Porz-Wahn, Germany 🦾
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Porz-Wahn, Germany · 👥 University students in robotics, computer science or related fields · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The Robotics and IoT Lab internship in Porz-Wahn is hands-on with a humanoid robot platform, from walking on uneven lunar analogue terrain to XR-based teleoperation and AI-supported control.
35. 🇩🇪 LUNA Analog Facility Team Intern 🌙 ESA Human and Robotic Exploration Directorate Internship in Porz-Wahn, Germany 🚀
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Porz-Wahn, Germany · 👥 University students · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The LUNA Analog Facility Team internship in Porz-Wahn helps support the lunar surface testbed used to prepare for Moon missions.
36. 🇩🇪 In-flight Venous Thrombosis Countermeasures Intern 🩺 ESA Human Exploration Science Office Internship in Porz-Wahn, Germany 🚀
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Porz-Wahn, Germany · 👥 University students, preferably at Master's level · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The In-flight Venous Thrombosis Countermeasures internship in Porz-Wahn reviews the evidence on preventing venous thrombosis during spaceflight and ranks the most promising countermeasures. Interns learn systematic evidence synthesis, health-technology assessment and scientific writing.
37. 🇩🇪 Spaceship EAC Team Intern 🚀 ESA Human and Robotic Exploration Directorate Internship in Porz-Wahn, Germany 🛠️
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Porz-Wahn, Germany · 👥 Master's level students · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The Spaceship EAC Team internship in Porz-Wahn joins an innovation team working on hands-on projects for future human exploration of the Moon. It suits students in fields such as mechanical engineering, computer science or industrial design.
38. 🇩🇪 XR Lab Intern 🥽 ESA European Astronaut Centre Internship in Porz-Wahn, Germany 🚀
📅 Deadline: 30 November 2026 📍 Porz-Wahn, Germany · 👥 Master's level university students · ⏳ 3 to 6 months The XR Lab internship in Porz-Wahn builds Unreal Engine tools for astronauts and works directly with a Meta Quest 3 headset on concepts for use onboard the International Space Station.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can apply for the ESA internships in Germany?
The 38 ESA internships in Germany are for university students, and most calls prefer applicants at Master's level. Several calls name Master's students directly, such as the infrastructure analytics, Solar Orbiter automation, space debris, AI and digital twins and disruption tolerant networking internships in Darmstadt. Other calls in Darmstadt and Porz-Wahn are aimed at university students in general. According to Youth Works Hub's review, 15 calls are open to applicants from 27 countries and 23 calls are open to applicants from 31 countries. Many calls also name specific skills, such as Python, Matlab, Linux scripting, RF knowledge or a STEM background. Before you prepare your documents, go through these application tips.
When is the deadline for the ESA internships in Germany?
All 38 ESA internships in Germany close on 30 November 2026. The deadline is the same for the 27 calls in Darmstadt and the 11 calls in Porz-Wahn, so no call closes earlier than the others. Every internship lasts 3 to 6 months. Two calls also name Noordwijk as a possible location: the Space Debris Office internship and the Exploration Science Strategy internship. The Apply link under each listing opens the page of that call. If this is your first application of this kind, read our guide on how to apply.
Which fields do the ESA internships in Germany cover?
The ESA internships in Germany cover mission operations, ground systems engineering, space safety, human and robotic exploration and communication. In Darmstadt, calls include work with the flight control teams of JUICE, Solar Orbiter, ExoMars and XMM-Newton and INTEGRAL, alongside security engineering, trajectory optimisation and digital content. In Porz-Wahn, calls cover astronaut health research, geology training tools, robotics, extended reality and the lunar surface testbed, plus real estate and facilities management. A clear CV helps in any of these fields, so you may want to prepare a Europass CV.
The batch splits into two groups. Darmstadt brings together spacecraft operations, ground systems, navigation, space weather and space debris, while Porz-Wahn gathers calls on astronaut health, geology training, robotics, extended reality and preparation for the Moon. For what comes after an internship, see our guide on career development.
Youth Works Hub brings these ESA calls together on one page so you can compare them quickly. Pick the topic that fits your studies and apply through the link under each listing.
