Spacecraft Operations Engineer for LEO and/or GEO satellites [26130]

Sopra Steria; Darmstadt; On-site; EUR 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

CS GROUP, in collaboration with HE Space and Sopra Steria, seeks an Spacecraft Operations Engineer for LEO and/or GEO missions in Darmstadt. You will ensure 24/7 on-call operations, perform mission planning checks, and monitor subsystem health using CHART and TM Propagator.

You will develop and maintain the operational baseline, support routine operations with the satellite manufacturer, and contribute to simulator development and validation of re-orbiting and decommissioning activities.

Qualifications

• Experience of Spacecraft Operations, preferably on LEO and/or GEO, with responsibility for subsystems during operations.
• Experience in Spacecraft Operations Preparation, development/validation of baseline, procedures and databases.
• Experience in satellite performance monitoring and anomaly analysis with industry liaison.

Responsibilities

• Ensure proper in-flight operations for the spacecraft and provide 24/7 on-call service.
• Perform mission planning checks and monitor daily operations during on-call periods.
• Report health and performance of subsystems at weekly meetings; contribute to anomaly investigations.
• Develop and maintain the operational baseline to adapt to anomalies and new operations.
• Participate in spacecraft routine support services and rehearsals with the manufacturer.
• Prepare Annual Performance Reports and raise anomalies; support anomaly resolution.
• Assist with APEX tool configuration and validation; contribute to simulator development.
• Contribute to validation of re-orbiting, decommissioning and technology tests; liaise with Flight Dynamics.
• Review, produce and maintain operational guides and documentation (SOE Guide, COG, etc.).
• Produce and maintain the end-to-end baseline including new procedures and related DUs.

Skills

LEO/GEO ops

Operations preparation

Anomaly analysis

Ground segment facilities

SCOS 2000

Education

University degree in relevant discipline

Tools

SCOS 2000

Spacecraft simulator

TM Propagator

CHART

APEX

Job description

Spacecraft Operations Engineer for LEO and/or GEO satellites [26130]

• Full-time

CS GROUP, together with HE Space and Sopra Steria, has been successfully providing digital end-to-end systems and engineering services for more than 40 years.
With over 2000 employees worldwide, we combine advanced and unique skills in both information technology and space data engineering. We combine entrepreneurial agility with cutting-edge technological expertise.
CS GROUP is a leading provider of operational systems and an important and trusted long-term partner for space and defence organisations.
At CS GROUP, we are driven by innovation and we value our most important asset: our people.

As a member of a team providing services to EUMETSAT, you will have the following responsibilities:

• Ensure proper in-flight operations for the spacecraft and provide 24/7 on-call service. This includes:
  • Performing mission planning checks and monitoring the daily operations in the on- call period as necessary;
  • Check and report at the weekly meeting about health and performance of the assigned subsystems using all available analysis tools (TM Propagator and CHART). Contribute to the resolution of the in-orbit S/C anomaly investigation as required;
• Develop and maintain the operational baseline as needed in reaction to anomalies, to allow execution of new operations, to improve the efficiency and accuracy of operations;
• Participate in the activities related to the spacecraft routine support service provided by the satellite manufacturer for the spacecraft routine operations, as well as to rehearsals;
• Prepare Annual Performance Reports for the respective Spacecraft Subsystem; Raise Anomaly Reports and contribute to Anomaly resolution as relevant;
• Provide assistance on use of APEX procedure configuration tracking and validation tools/software (including FOP tool kit setup);
• Contribute for the technical aspects of the spacecraft simulator development and maintenance;
• Contribute to the finalization and validation of the spacecraft re-orbiting and decommissioning activities and of the Technology Tests including liaison with Flight Dynamics and other Subsystems or facility experts;
• Contribute to the review, production and maintenance of the operational guides and documents (including SOE Guide, COG etc.);
• Production and maintenance of the operational baseline including end to end preparation of new Manual Procedures, Automated Procedures, Special Operation Instructions, TM/TC / Events / display as well related DUs.

The operations preparation phase:

• Contribute to the space segment and system reviews as required by the SOM;
• Ensure proper spacecraft operations preparation, interfacing with other satellite teams (e.g. System, Mission Operations Facility). This includes:
  • Review the Operational deliverables provided by industry (e.g. FOM, FOM procedures, TM/TC MIB Files) and contribute to their acceptance by EUMETSAT;
  • Ensure the production, verification and validation of the operational data units (DUs), including Manual and automated procedures, TM/TC Database and operational documentation in view of spacecraft main operations preparation milestones, including the various System Validation Tests (SSVTs);
  • Contribute to SATSIM tool development and use, in particular related to its use for the Verification & Validation activities at EUM.
• Contribute to the operations preparation at system level as relevant, in particular the preparation and execution of the Operational validation campaign and rehearsals in view of demonstrating the Operational Readiness before Launch;
• Contribute to the SSVT preparation activities, including delivering main documentation (e.g. SSVT Plan, SVT test specifications, SSVT procedures, TRR and TRB data package), as well as to the SSVT execution;
• Contribute to the LEOP preparation and interface aspects with the spacecraft system team;
• Contribute to the definition and follow-up of the development of engineering Off-Line tools including the Spacecraft Analysis and Reporting functions (e.g. CHART);
• Contribute to the production and maintenance of the documentation to support the development, testing and validation of the system;
• Contribute to the definition, production and maintenance of the Procedures Production Rules, Naming Convention, System Operations File, SATCOG, Analyst Operations Guide and Analysis and Reporting Operations Guide;
• Contribute to the design, development and delivery of the Operations training, mainly at Satellite level.

Mandatory skills:

In addition to having a University degree (or equivalent in experience) in a relevant discipline, the full team shall have a well-balanced and distributed experience in all following mandatory skills and each of the key persons shall have experience in at least two of these mandatory skills:

• Experience of Spacecraft Operations, preferably on Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and/or Geostationary orbit (GEO), spinning and/or 3-axis stabilized spacecraft with responsibility for one or more platform subsystems or instruments during operational validation, commissioning or routine operations phases;
• Experience of Spacecraft Operations Preparation preferably on LEO and/or GEO, with responsibility on development and validation of operational baseline (procedures, database etc.) including validation tools (e.g. spacecraft simulator) and ground segment M&C facilities;
• Experience in satellite performance monitoring and reporting aspects including anomaly analysis and solving in liaison with satellite industry, procedure change control and configuration management processes;
• Experience in the operation or development of satellite ground segment facilities, in particular procedure development, monitor and control, mission planning, on-board software management, performance analysis, configuration management and simulator facilities;
• Experience withSCOS 2000 (Mission Control System).

Additional skills (considering as an added value):

• Experience with the use of the APEX operations procedures preparation and execution tool;
• Proven experience in the phases of LEOP and commissioning;
• Specification of space system and operational concepts, facility requirements;
• Familiarity with On-Board Control Procedure concepts;
• Familiarity with the ECSS Packet Utilisation Standard, customisation and usage;
• Familiarity with system change control and configuration management procedures;
• Data analysis software packages and programming skills in other coding languages such as Python / Java etc.;
• Use of VBA for development of ad-hoc tools in MS Office applications;
• Ability to analyze and solve complex technical problems;
• Ability to work effectively in a team and communicate technical information clearly.

This job is located in Darmstadt, Germany, and will be executed on-site at our customer’s premises (EUMETSAT).

Inclusive and committed employer, our company works every day to combat all forms of discrimination and promote a respectful working environment. That's why, committed to gender diversity and overall inclusivity, we encourage all applications and profiles. Last apply date: 30/10/2026!