Intern in the Projects Department - EnVision Project: Thermo-Elastic Modelling

ESA; Noordwijk; On-site; EUR 13,000 - 20,000; Full time

Job summary

ESA invites a university student in the final or penultimate year of a Master’s program in engineering to join the EnVision project team at ESTEC in Noordwijk, Netherlands. You will focus on improving thermo-elastic modelling of spacecraft-payload coupling and work with spacecraft engineers to implement efficient representations.

You will extend the existing thermo-elastic analysis framework by adding payload instruments and electronics, perform analyses of temperature gradients and stiffness

Qualifications

• Student in final or penultimate year of a Master’s program in engineering.
• Able to be enrolled at university for the full internship.
• Knowledge of finite element analysis, NASTRAN or similar.
• Export control eligibility and language in English/French are assets.

Responsibilities

• Investigate thermo-elastic coupling between spacecraft and payload.
• Enhance the EnVision thermo-elastic model with payload representations.
• Perform analyses to assess effects on panel deformation and link budgets.
• Develop simplified models to reproduce coupling effects.
• Evaluate integrated vs separate platform-payload analyses.

Education

Master's degree in Engineering

Tools

NASTRAN

Finite Element Analysis software

Job description

Our team and mission

EnVision is a Venus orbiter mission selected by ESA’s Science Programme Committee as the fifth Medium-class mission in the Agency’s Cosmic Vision plan. It will be the first mission to investigate Venus from its inner core to its upper atmosphere, characterising the interaction between its atmosphere, surface/subsurface and interior. It aims at providing a holistic view of Venus, studying the planet’s history, activity, and climate.

The project team in which this internship is proposed is in charge of the implementation of the mission: the procurement of the spacecraft and the launch vehicle and the liaising with the developers of the instruments that will be embarked on EnVision. As with most Science missions, the instruments are provided by Member States, with ESA providing several specific payload elements.

At the time of writing (September 2026), the EnVision spacecraft is undergoing the Preliminary Design Review. This proposed activity is of significant interest to the EnVision project, as thermo-elastic distortion analyses play a key role in the verification of several mission performance requirements, particularly those related to the pointing stability of scientific instruments or the link budget of communication antennae.

• Intern in the Projects Department - EnVision Project: Thermo-Elastic Modelling
• Workplace: Noordwijk, NL
• Location: ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands
• Type of Appointment: Intern

Field(s) of activity for the internship

Topic of the internship: Improving Thermo-Elastic Modelling of Spacecraft and Payload Coupling

You will be part of the EnVision project team at ESA's European Space Research and Technology Centre and will work closely with spacecraft engineering specialists and experts from the ESA Technical Directorate. Your task will be to investigate how interactions between a spacecraft platform and its payload equipment influence thermo-elastic distortions, and how these effects can be represented more accurately and efficiently in engineering analyses.

Starting from the existing EnVision thermo-elastic analysis model, you will enhance the spacecraft structural model by integrating representations of payload instruments, electronics units, and other heat-dissipating equipment. You will then perform thermo-elastic analyses to evaluate how the thermal and structural behaviour of these units affects the deformation of the spacecraft structure.

A particular focus of the work will be to assess coupling effects between payload equipment and the spacecraft platform. You will investigate how temperature gradients and structural stiffness within payload units and electronics boxes influence the deformation of the spacecraft panels on which they are mounted, and how these distortions may propagate to neighbouring areas supporting other sensitive instruments.

Based on your findings, you will develop simplified modelling approaches that can reproduce the key coupling effects without requiring the use of highly detailed models. These simplified representations could significantly improve analysis efficiency while maintaining the accuracy needed for engineering assessments.

Finally, you will evaluate the extent to which separate analyses of the spacecraft platform and payload units can reproduce the results of a fully integrated thermo-elastic analysis. Where appropriate, you will propose methods to better capture platform-to-payload interactions when payload units are analysed independently.

The results of this work could contribute to improving future thermo-elastic modelling practices and increasing the representativeness of performance predictions for space missions. Using the EnVision mission as a case study, you will explore modelling aspects that are often neglected in conventional analyses and help identify practical methods to account for spacecraft-payload coupling effects.

During this internship, you will gain experience in:

• thermo-elastic analysis of spacecraft structures;
• structural and thermal modelling using finite element methods;
• interpretation of spacecraft performance impacts arising from thermo-mechanical distortions;
• development and validation of simplified engineering models;
• collaboration with multidisciplinary spacecraft engineering teams;
• application of advanced analysis techniques to a real ESA space mission.

Behavioural competencies

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

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.

Knowledge and background in Finite Element Analysis, use of NASTRAN or other similar Finite Element Analysis software, Thermo-elastic distortion analysis and Mechanical Engineering are an asset.

Applicants must be eligible to access information, technology, and hardware which is subject to European or US export control and sanctions regulations.

Nationality

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.