Intern in the Commercialisation Services Department

 

Internship Opportunity in the Directorate of Commercialisation, Industry and Competitiveness.

 

Location

Noordwijk, Harwell, Paris

Our team and mission

This position is based can be based

• At the European Space and Research Technology Centre (ESTEC) – Noordwijk, Netherlands
• At the ESA HQ - Paris, France
• At the European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications (ECSAT) - Harwell, UK

 

The Head of the Commercialisation Services Department, who reports to the Director of Commercialisation, Industry and Competitiveness, is responsible for supporting the commercialisation of space products and services, the scale-up on global markets, as well as the access to investments and finance for European space industry. It works in close cooperation with other ESA Directorates and provides them with relevant services in the implementation of the programmes and activities with commercial content under their responsibilities.
The Department provides incubation services, seeding new space companies and generating the next generation of entrepreneurs; it fosters innovation through the network of PhiLabs, the management of ESA Patents and Technology Transfer activities; and it supports space companies’ easy access to capital (private and public finance and investor communities).
Together with the ESA Inspector General, the Department co-chairs the Commercialisation Inter Directorate Working Group (CIWG), ensuring alignment between directorate-level commercialisation plans and the overarching ESA Commercialisation Policy, as well as a harmonised approach to commercialisation across ESA.
The Department nurtures the ties with the NewSpace community to ensure industry feedback is effectively integrated into the implementation of ESA programmes and into the evolution of commercialisation services provided by ESA.
Beyond these functions, the Department actively contributes to creating a new generation of European space entrepreneurs by offering space commercialisation and business training. This initiative aims to foster a culture of commercialisation within the agency. The department may also utilise mechanisms such as prizes, competitions, and grand challenges to encourage industrial competitiveness and stimulate innovation across technology, products, services, and business models.

Field(s) of activity for the internship

You can choose between the following topics:

 

1) Topic 1: Digital Developments at ESA Innovation Services Section

 

You will support the ESA Innovation Services Section on the following matters: Work on the core development of the technology brokers and philab databases. This system automatically aggregates and manages data from various online and offline sources. Your work will primarily focus on integrating ESA’s spin-in activities and optimizing data management processes to ensure the seamless flow of information. 

 

Key Responsibilities: 

• Refine and expand our Python-based system responsible for web scraping, PDF data extraction, and data management. You'll utilize a combination of HTML parsing, HTTP requests, and regular expressions to ensure robust data collection from multiple sources;
• Support the iterative creation of dashboards using Power BI in close collaboration with our technology brokers network and ESA-CIC country managers;
• Assist in the development of digital requirements for ACCESS Agents in preparation for CM25 and contribute to the transition of activities to the new activites.esa.int platform.

2) Topic 2: Business Incubation

The Entrepreneurship & Business Incubation Office (CIC-SUB) represents a visible contribution to ESA’s entrepreneurial effort to boost green and digital commercialisation. By tapping into Europe’s enterprising communities, the Office is expeditiously extending the reach of European commercial space into the global economy and society at large.  

 In particular, the ESA Business Incubation Centre (ESA BIC) focuses on supporting entrepreneurs and early-stage start-ups using space related technologies and/or data.  

 

The ESA BICs focusses on three main objectives:  

• Addressing real customer needs;
• Diversifying space as a business (NewSpace);
• Focus on acceleration of commercial growth.

 The first ESA BIC was launched in the Netherlands in 2004, which has grown into a pan-European network of 30 ESA BICs in 21 Participating States by mid-2024. The Office additionally manages the ESRIC Start-up Support Programme in Luxembourg. 

 

You will work on: 

• Process and analyze data from start-ups on a portfolio level;
• Create and mana