Intern in the RAMS section, Reliability modelling support

Our team and mission

This position is based at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) - Noordwijk, Netherlands

Under the direct authority of the Director of Technology, Engineering and Quality, the Head of the Product Assurance and Safety Department is responsible for the establishment and implementation of the ESA policy, requirements, and standards with respect to quality. TEC-Q is responsible for the provision of required expertise and support services to ESA projects, support Directorates and research activities in the Product Assurance and Safety disciplines, applied to all elements of space systems (ground and on-board), including hardware, software, and humans. Product Assurance and Safety disciplines comprise Product Assurance management, technical risk management, dependability, safety, quality assurance, EEE components, parts materials, and processes assurance, with support from the other TEC Departments engineering, expertise, and laboratories.

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

Field(s) of activity for the internship

Topic of the internship: Support to reliability modelling handbook improvements

The European Space Agency has undertaken for the past few years a redefinition of the way reliability methodologies, methods and models should be applied within the European community for space applications.

The objectives of this initiative is to:

• Provide a common frame, validated by the Eurospace community, for the whole European space community, including for cubesats or newspace, with specific recommendations for the different domains of application;
• Propose guidance to all space actors on how to apply some specific reliability related techniques;
• Overcome the limitations of the now outdated reliability standards;
• Propose more realistic overall models based on the observations and the knowledge gained over the years by the space community.

The direct application of the handbook impacts the predictive reliability calculations provided during the main reviews, as well as the availability probability for the different types of systems. It can also be applied to demonstrate safety criteria for critical missions and as an input to Probabilistic Risk Assessments (ex: inhabited missions or for returning objects).
It is also useful for ensuring that the probability of deorbitation/reorbitation and probability of passivation reach the targets defined by the ESA cleanspace requirements.

A more mastered use of reliability data and models allows having more confidence in the proposed designs vs reality, to ensure more accurate failure avoidance and failure tolerance implements. Thus, it does limit overdesign at spacecraft level and permits reliable sizing management at system of system level (for instance the number of spares needed for constellations). 

After several studies and discussions within an ECSS Working Group, the handbook is currently:

• In a preliminary version, mainly for satellites applications, online and currently in use, on a digital platform: https://handbook.reliability.space/en/latest/home.html;
• Available as Word documents with the latest proposition of improvements.

The objective of the internship is to support the updates in terms of:

• Additional modellings of Electronic Components from ESA programs based on the updates of the FIDES reliability method between its 2009 and 2022 versions;
• Validation of some already existing models for mechanical and miscellaneous elements from some ESA programs;
• Update of the document for uses other than satellites (ground segments, launchers, inhabited spacecrafts) with descriptions and examples of modellings;
• Propositions of improvements of the handbook’s content in order to be as user friendly as possible;
• Updates of the online digital platform with the final handbook version 2.0 content.

Behavioural competencies

Result Orientation
Operational Efficiency
Fostering Cooperation
Relationship Management
Continuous Improvement
Forward Thinking

For more information, please refer to ESA Core Behavioural Competencies guidebook

Education

You must be a university student, preferably in your final or second-to-last year of a university course at Master’s level and you need to remain 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 Member State language would be an asset.

You must have some prior programming experience and some experience with web-development (HTML, CSS).

Experience with version control systems (git, svn) would be an asset.

Knowledge in Space systems and/or Reliability, Availability, Maintainability and Safety as well as understanding of Electronic components / Mechanical parts is an asset.

You should have good interpersonal and communication skills and should be able to work in a multi-cultural environment, both independently and as part of a team. You must also be thorough and meticulous.