Our team and mission

This position is based at the ESA Centre for Earth Observation (ESRIN) - Frascati, Italy 

The Φ-lab in ESRIN mission is to accelerate the future of Earth Observation (EO) by means of transformational innovations, i.e. innovations that completely transform or create entire industries via new technologies, with the aim to strengthen the world-leading competitiveness of the European EO industrial and research sectors.
To achieve its mission, Φ-lab manages the full range of the innovation pipeline. We create or discover new transformational ideas, select and nurture the good ones, develop the corresponding “solution” or product by maturing and testing it, and finally we invest in the best ones via the InCubed programme to reach market adoption.

A particular interest of the Φ-lab Explore office is to promote the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques to enable users and scientists to extract maximum information from the large amount of Earth Observation (EO) data sets. 

Candidates interested are encouraged to visit the ESA websites: http://www.esa.int and philab.esa.int 

Field(s) of activity for the internship

Topic of the internship: Earth Observation Market Intelligence

The field of Earth observation from space is currently undergoing a profound transformation. A burgeoning entrepreneurial spirit has ignited a wave of investments from both new and established companies, ushering in a wave of fresh concepts, innovative satellite constellations, cutting-edge technologies, and applications geared towards meeting the ever-expanding demands of the market. At the forefront of this transformation is the Investing in Industrial Innovation (InCubed) programme, designed to support the European Earth observation commercial sector. InCubed is aiming at operating within the dynamic and rapidly evolving commercial New Space landscape of Earth observation.

In your role, you will play an instrumental part in supporting the team by gathering crucial market and business data. Your mission is to craft comprehensive reports that trace the evolution of the Earth observation market. Your journey commences with an in-depth exploration of existing market intelligence sources, where you will dissect the Earth observation market landscape. You will uncover invaluable insights into the primary market players, scrutinize their sales strategies, pricing models, and value propositions.

Moreover, you will be entrusted with proposing a meticulously structured methodology for accumulating intelligence information, complemented by a strategic implementation plan. Your proposal will outline a systematic approach for maintaining and enriching an internal database, ensuring it remains a valuable asset for the programme.

Furthermore, you will deliver a dynamic dashboard, linked to the database, potentially utilizing tools like Power BI. This dashboard will serve as a nexus for key market indicators, presenting essential metrics such as revenues, private investments, market segment breakdowns, and prominent trend indicators.

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.

Ideally, you should be enrolled in a Master’s degree in a business subject or technology discipline with a strong interest in understanding how space technology is exploited in a commercial environment.