Intern in the Galileo and Egnos Programme Department - AI for Galileo System Engineering and MBSE - European Space Agency (Noordwijk)

About this position

The summary below is published by European Space Agency on the official vacancy notice. Our own analysis — salary realism, comparable openings, career trajectory, language profile — follows further down the page.

Key responsibilities

According to the vacancy notice, the role centres on the following duties:

• Explore the AI4SE (AI-for-Systems Engineering) approach in the context of the Galileo MBSE system model
• Define and implement practical use cases in which artificial intelligence and machine learning enable the MBSE system model to be queried, expanded and connected to other databases
• Develop Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning tools, methodologies, scripts and digital threads to support these capabilities

Are you eligible?

Check these requirements from the notice before investing time in an application:

• Education: University student, preferably in final or second-to-last year of Master's level course
• Languages: English, French
• Key skills: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), Data science

Contract and working arrangements

Contract duration: Internship.

Working arrangements: On-site, ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands.

Hiring unit: Galileo System Engineering Unit, Galileo System Engineering Service, Galileo Project Office, Galileo and EGNOS Programm….

Position details

Reference

1452922733

Last Verified

6 November 2026

Position overview

This is the official EU Careers listing for Intern in the Galileo and Egnos Programme Department - AI for Galileo System Engineering and MBSE at ESA based in Noordwijk (Traineeship). The vacancy reference is 1452922733.

Job Requisition ID:20998

Date Posted:1 November 2026

Closing Date:30 November 2026 23:59 CET/CEST

Publication Method:External Only

Directorate:Resilience, Navigation and Connectivity

Location ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands

Our team and mission

The internship opportunity is within the Galileo System Engineering Unit, Galileo System Engineering Service, Galileo Project Office, in the Galileo and EGNOS Programme Department. ESA is the design authority of Galileo in support of the EU and the System Development Prime.

Galileo is Europe’s own global navigation satellite system, providing a highly accurate, guaranteed global positioning service under civilian control. Galileo is already the most precise satellite navigation system in the world, with more than four billion users.

Our team oversees the definition and specification of the Galileo System releases, known as System Builds, responding to increasing mission needs in terms of position accuracy, availability, integrity, assurance, robustness and emergency response. This encompasses the definition of the new Galileo Second Generation satellites (with the first batch under development), the updates of the current Galileo (1st Generation) fleet, the necessary updates of the Ground Segment, and the interface with service facilities and external entities.

We are a multidisciplinary, enthusiastic and diverse team and work hand-in-hand with other Galileo and ESA discliplines, from radionavigation and security engineers to ground and space segment engineers.

Candidates interested are encouraged to visit the ESA website:http://www.esa.int

Field(s) of activity for the internship

Galileo is a large and complex system with hundreds of functions, thousands of requirements, and an infrastructure distributed across the whole world. Galileo has new system releases and updates coming on a yearly basis. Implementation of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning tools at System Level is a priority for the Galileo Programme in order to ensure knowledge transfer, modelling of current and future evolutions of the Galileo System and fast data access for decision-making processes (design, qualification and anomaly resolution).

As a means to manage this complexity, the Galileo System Engineering team has put in place a Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) approach linking those functions to one another in a graphical manner. The MBSE system model is available to the full Project team: from engineers and testers to security accreditors and managers. This system model opens up new opportunities to link all the design elements and artefacts with their verification and validation across the whole lifecycle. Linking all design aspects will improve the system design and behavioural understanding by our Project team, and will maximise the success of its deployment.

Elements to be linked with the system model range from requirements, analyses and simulations, to performance prediction and early validation and finally, to real measurements.

It is a massive amount of data to connect and we believe that artificial intelligence/machine learning can help in this endeavour. This is part of a growing trend in Systems Engineering known as AI-for-Systems Engineering, or AI4SE.

As an intern, you will have the following tasks:

- exploring the AI4SE (AI-for-Systems Engineering) approach in the context of the Galileo MBSE system model; - defining and implementing practical use cases in which artificial intelligence and machine learning enable the MBSE system model to be queried, expanded and connected to other databases (requirements, simulations, test results, configuration, field measurements) in a better, and more efficient way; - developing Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning tools, methodologies, scripts and digital threads to support these capabilities.

In these tasks, you will engage with state-of-the-art Galileo professionals from ESA and industry. This would allow our Project team to digitally navigate through the system design seamlessly and minimise the risks associated with developing and deploying new Galileo system releases.

Behavioural competencies

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.

Additional 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.

Knowledge and background in Satellite Radionavigation, data science and artificial intelligence are assets.

Application timeline

This vacancy was first listed on 4 November 2026, 3 days ago.

The application deadline is 30 November 2026, 21 days from today. Late applications are not accepted, so submit through the official EU Careers portal well in advance.

Last verified against the EU Careers feed on 6 November 2026.

Where to learn more

For headcount, mission, and other open vacancies at ESA see the ESA institution page; for the cost of living, correction coefficient, and other postings in Noordwijk see our Noordwijk location page.

New to EU careers? Our beginner's guide walks through entry routes, EPSO competitions, and what to prepare. For application logistics see application tips and EPSO competitions.