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Graduating from university is exciting. But it can also be nerve-racking, especially if you still haven’t figured out what you like or what to do next. Do you see yourself as an administrative officer with a more back-office role? Or, do you aspire to become a c-suite executive? Do you prefer financial auditing or public procurement? Media relations or events management? Engineering or project management? Sounds familiar? 

"When I first graduated from university with a degree in media and journalism, I was unsure if I wanted to work as a communications professional or do something more artistic. Thanks to my traineeship at EUSPA I worked on my first graphic design project, which allowed me to connect to explore the latter. I am now finishing a master’s degree in Strategic Design and Entrepreneurship at Copenhagen Business School, while as a Student Assistant in Architecture" says former EUSPA trainee Pedro Granacha from Lisbon, Portugal

Since its inception, EUSPA has been offering both undergraduates and graduates the opportunity to get a hands-on experience on the Union’s most ambitious industrial project. More than 150 young professionals have kickstarted their careers thanks to their traineeship. It gave them the final push to be recruited quickly with some experience in various areas, including consulting, engineering, legal & procurement matters, IT, public relations, EU affairs, and more. 

We call them traineeships for a reason!

The EUSPA traineeship scheme is a development programme aimed at providing young graduates with the soft and hard skills necessary for a successful career both in the private and public sectors. EUSPA trainees have the opportunity to work on projects related to their field of study and gain a better understanding of the EU’s policies and decision-making processes as well as the EU Space Programme.

"While trainees must have a degree (bachelor’s or master’s) related to the post they have applied for, they are not expected to master any task from the beginning. We’re here to train them, share our knowledge and help them bring out hidden talents" says the Head of Administration at EUSPA, Patrick Hamilton.

As a trainee at EUSPA, you will start with basic induction training to familiarise yourself with the mission of the Agency and its procedures before diving into deep and carrying out work-related tasks. All trainees are assigned a project officer not only as a supervisor but also as a mentor. Supervisors meet with trainees weekly to assign projects, debrief and share concerns. This allows project officers to see weaknesses and strengths and give and receive constructive feedback. 

Additionally, trainees can benefit from seminars, and on-site events, participate in workshops, and even participate to language lunches.

Helping you discover what you like the most!

"As cliché as it may sound, employees who love what they do, almost always excel in it, and this is what we incentivise our trainees to do" continues Hamilton.

Task rotation is an important element of the EUSPA traineeship scheme because it allows graduates to view different aspects of their field, discover their strengths and cultivate new abilities. A trainee in the Market Downstream and Innovation Department will be helping start-ups become more innovative through space, while also monitoring market trends to identify new opportunities. The same applies to a trainee in finance, who will assist in the financial implementation of EU grants but also support in accounting, monitoring KPIs and more. 

With the EU Space Programme having a direct application across various industry sectors, trainees will have to get out of their comfort zone and expand their knowledge fields such as maritime, agriculture, aviation and climate change, just to name a few.

"When I was a trainee in communications, I was tasked with media monitoring, and press relations for campaigns that needed press releases. Together with social media copywriting, I had to be constantly in touch with topics I was not familiar with, such as precision farming or the uses of Earth Observation. At first it was tough, and it required extensive desk research to see the full picture. Thanks to the input from my colleagues and the unlimited resources the agency offers, communicating about complex scientific topics became my favourite task" says Cristina Garcia.

Be part of a bigger EU family

What about having fun? Being a EUSPA trainee doesn’t necessarily mean getting your work done and going to sleep. When you set foot to EUSPA, you will be joined by fellow graduates from across the EU and engage in tons of activities like hiking in the scenic Bohemian Switzerland, partying or blending with the locals.

"It is really an amazing opportunity to put in practice what I learnt in a fascinating multicultural environment, participating to the EU involvement in space activities", confirmed Lorenzo Miccinesi, previous trainee in the Legal Department.

With the goal of boosting competitiveness and supporting skill development, the EU has named 2023 the ‘European Year of Skills’ – an initiative EUSPA is clearly supporting through its fully fledged traineeship scheme.

Still not convinced? Hear from our past trainees

Tips on how to ace your interview.

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the EUSPA website (http://www.euspa.europa.eu).

Graduating from university is exciting. But it can also be nerve-racking, especially if you still haven’t figured out what you like or what to do next. Do you see yourself as an administrative officer with a more back-office role? Or, do you aspire to become a c-suite executive? Do you prefer financial auditing or public procurement? Media relations or events management? Engineering or project management? Sounds familiar? 

"When I first graduated from university with a degree in media and journalism, I was unsure if I wanted to work as a communications professional or do something more artistic. Thanks to my traineeship at EUSPA I worked on my first graphic design project, which allowed me to connect to explore the latter. I am now finishing a master’s degree in Strategic Design and Entrepreneurship at Copenhagen Business School, while as a Student Assistant in Architecture" says former EUSPA trainee Pedro Granacha from Lisbon, Portugal

Since its inception, EUSPA has been offering both undergraduates and graduates the opportunity to get a hands-on experience on the Union’s most ambitious industrial project. More than 150 young professionals have kickstarted their careers thanks to their traineeship. It gave them the final push to be recruited quickly with some experience in various areas, including consulting, engineering, legal & procurement matters, IT, public relations, EU affairs, and more. 

We call them traineeships for a reason!

The EUSPA traineeship scheme is a development programme aimed at providing young graduates with the soft and hard skills necessary for a successful career both in the private and public sectors. EUSPA trainees have the opportunity to work on projects related to their field of study and gain a better understanding of the EU’s policies and decision-making processes as well as the EU Space Programme.

"While trainees must have a degree (bachelor’s or master’s) related to the post they have applied for, they are not expected to master any task from the beginning. We’re here to train them, share our knowledge and help them bring out hidden talents" says the Head of Administration at EUSPA, Patrick Hamilton.

As a trainee at EUSPA, you will start with basic induction training to familiarise yourself with the mission of the Agency and its procedures before diving into deep and carrying out work-related tasks. All trainees are assigned a project officer not only as a supervisor but also as a mentor. Supervisors meet with trainees weekly to assign projects, debrief and share concerns. This allows project officers to see weaknesses and strengths and give and receive constructive feedback. 

Additionally, trainees can benefit from seminars, and on-site events, participate in workshops, and even participate to language lunches.

Helping you discover what you like the most!

"As cliché as it may sound, employees who love what they do, almost always excel in it, and this is what we incentivise our trainees to do" continues Hamilton.

Task rotation is an important element of the EUSPA traineeship scheme because it allows graduates to view different aspects of their field, discover their strengths and cultivate new abilities. A trainee in the Market Downstream and Innovation Department will be helping start-ups become more innovative through space, while also monitoring market trends to identify new opportunities. The same applies to a trainee in finance, who will assist in the financial implementation of EU grants but also support in accounting, monitoring KPIs and more. 

With the EU Space Programme having a direct application across various industry sectors, trainees will have to get out of their comfort zone and expand their knowledge fields such as maritime, agriculture, aviation and climate change, just to name a few.

"When I was a trainee in communications, I was tasked with monitoring the media and press relations for campaigns that needed Press releases. Together with social media copywriting, I had to be constantly in touch with topics I was not familiar with such as precision farming or the uses of Earth Observation. At first, it was tough, and it required extensive desk research to see the full picture. Thanks to input from my colleagues and the unlimited sources the agency offers, communicating about complex scientific topics became my favourite task" says Cristina Garcia.

Be part of a bigger EU family

What about having fun? Being a EUSPA trainee doesn’t necessarily mean getting your work done and going to sleep. When you set foot to EUSPA, you will be joined by fellow graduates from across the EU and engage in tons of activities like hiking in the scenic Bohemian Switzerland, partying or blending with the locals.

"It is really an amazing opportunity to put in practice what I learnt in a fascinating multicultural environment, participating to the EU involvement in space activities", confirmed Lorenzo Miccinesi, previous trainee in the Legal Department.

With the goal of boosting competitiveness and supporting skill development, the EU has named 2023 the ‘European Year of Skills’ – an initiative EUSPA is clearly supporting through its fully fledged traineeship scheme.

Still not convinced? Hear from our past trainees

Tips on how to ace your interview.

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the EUSPA website (http://www.euspa.europa.eu).

The link between space technology and user needs is innovation – innovation that’s happening at companies across Europe. 

As the go-to-source for all things EU Space, EUSPA has played – and continues to play – a big role in supporting this innovation. “We have built a reputation for being the single point of information, expertise and market intelligence that companies of all sizes depend on when integrating European space solutions into their business solutions,” adds EUSPA Executive Director Rodrigo da Costa.  

So, how can EUSPA help turn your innovative idea into a space-based success story? Let us count the ways!

1. Funding Initiatives

As any start-up knows all-too-well, the biggest challenge to innovation is funding. Based on the conversations our Market Development team have had with entrepreneurs, there’s a clear gap in what businesses need to innovate at their full potential and the funding and support that is currently available to them. The result is that some European companies struggle to get their innovations from drawing board to prototype, let alone to market. 

To help, EUSPA offers a wide-range of funding opportunities serving all entrepreneurial  needs during the entire innovation cycle: from Fundamental Elements and the development of innovative chipset, antenna and receiver technologies to the very successful Horizon Calls focusing on the development of innovative space downstream applications, and finally the CASSINI activities that range from hackathons, innovation prizes and contests like the myEUspace competition that target the expansion and growth of space ventures. In addition to cash prizes, many of these initiatives come with additional perks like business support and incubation. 

Likewise, Fundamental Elements is an R&D funding mechanism designed to support the development of innovative chipset, antenna and receiver technologies that industry would not yet invest in on its own initiative. In doing so, the programme helps accelerate the integration of European GNSS into market-ready devices and solutions.

To see how 38 companies have already benefited from the initiative, be sure to download our Fundamental Elements Catalogue.     

Last but not least, the EUSPA Space Academy is your ticket to creating ground-breaking new apps and disruptive business solutions using the power of EU Space. The online training is open to all individuals, start-ups, entrepreneurs and SMEs who want to learn the ins and outs of building a space application business. There are numerous courses to choose from, all of which are taught by top academics, industry leaders and EUSPA experts. Oh, and did we mention that it’s 100% free?

2. Market intelligence

As an SME or start-up, you simply can’t afford to make decisions blindly. That’s why EUSPA should be your new best friend. 

We are well-known across the industry as a leading source of critical market intelligence, one that is regularly relied upon by policymakers, entrepreneurs and major corporations. For example, our EO and GNSS Market Report provides in-depth analyses on the latest global trends and developments, and it does so through illustrated examples and use cases.  

EUSPA’s team of market experts also carefully monitor the latest trends and developments in user technology, which we cover in our GNSS User Technology Report. Written with the advice of leading receiver and chipset manufacturers, this report serves as a valuable tool to support planning and decision-making on the development, purchasing and use of GNSS user technology.

Or maybe you want to become an active investor in the exciting field of space technology? No worries, EUSPA has you covered too. Our GNSS Investment Report, the first of its kind, quantifies the investment needs of major companies and looks at the impact the acquisition of EU companies by foreign investors has on Europe’s overall competitiveness. 

With Europe’s Green Deal opening up a plethora of opportunities for innovative companies, this year EUSPA published its EU Space for Green Transformation Report. In addition to introducing the Green Deal and its implications for companies, the report also presents detailed examples of how various industries are leveraging the power of EU Space to drive their sustainability journeys.

You can download all our market intelligence publications free of charge here. 

3. Innovation across all EU Space Programme components

Charged with promoting Copernicus’ services, data and market uptake, EUSPA is actively helping European companies embrace Earth Observation. For instance, we are in constant communication with European companies, advising them on how they can best leverage Copernicus data, information and services. 

In addition, preparing for GOVSATCOM and IRIS2, our funding opportunities focus on various areas of satellite communications. We have launched several funding opportunities for companies, including Horizon Europe calls and CASSINI initiatives covering all space programme components.

4. Promoting the EU Space brand

In addition to supporting the development of innovative chipsets and receivers, EUSPA also works tirelessly to ensure that the world’s leading chip manufacturers include Galileo in their products. As a result of this work, over 3.9 billion Galileo-enabled smartphones have been sold worldwide – which is good news for European companies developing location-based services and applications. 

5. Talent and skill development

According to European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton, a skilled workforce is the key to sustainable growth, innovation and competitiveness. “Europe's strength resides in its talent, including engineers, researchers and entrepreneurs,” he says. “To achieve our Digital Decade and Green Deal goals, we want to support our companies, in particular SMEs, in hiring, training and keeping talent.”

Here, EUSPA offers paid traineeships where university students and graduates acquire the skills they need to enter the labour market with confidence. 

An ecosystem of starts-ups and SMEs

Thanks in part to support initiatives like these, EUSPA has built a sizeable ecosystem of start-ups and SMEs, all of whom are leveraging the benefits of EU space data and services. In fact, to date, more than 1000 companies have received support from EUSPA. 

Ready to add your company’s name to this list? 

Then contact us today at market@euspa.europa.eu and let EUSPA be your partner in innovation!

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the EUSPA website (http://www.euspa.europa.eu).

"From a historical perspective this was one the greatest achievements of the EU," says EUSPA Executive director Rodrigo da Costa. "Determining a position on the ground using only Galileo was essentially the first step towards shielding our autonomy and sovereignty in space." he highlights. 

This first position fix of longitude, latitude and altitude using the Galileo constellation took place at the Navigation Laboratory at ESA’s technical heart ESTEC, in Noordwijk, Netherlands on the morning of 12 March, with a level of accuracy between 10 and 15 metres.

Since then, Galileo has been growing, exceeding performance expectations, and enabling a multitude of applications thanks to the broad range of services it offers. 

A significant milestone was marked in 2016 with the declaration of Galileo Initial Services to become available at the end of that year providing guaranteed services to users. As of today, the EU’s positioning system offers a set of services to end users with more currently under development. 

With 28 satellites currently in orbit the system offers:

Open Service (OS): Open Service (OS) enables free-of-charge, global ranging, positioning and timing, using the Galileo OS Signal-In-Space (SIS).

Search and Rescue Service (SAR): The Galileo Search and Rescue service allows for the location of people in distress within 10 minutes and a radius below 5km. All you need is a Galileo-enabled Personal Location Beacon (PLB).  

High Accuracy Service (HAS): On the basis of this brand new service, declared operational on the 24/01/2023,  Galileo becomes the first GNSS system providing, globally and free of charge, corrections to the Galileo and GPS signals to enable a positioning accuracy down to decimetre level (when processed by a Precise Point Positioning (PPP) algorithm by the user).

"The main power of Galileo is felt in the downstream sector, especially if we think that over 4 billion Galileo-enabled smartphones have been sold and that millions of users in many sectors rely on it.” concludes EUSPA Executive Director, Rodrigo da Costa. 

Read this: Another step for EU’s positioning system: Nikolina joins the Galileo family!

What’s next?

The Galileo is being continuously improved to ensure seamless, safe and secured service delivery 24/7 to users worldwide. EUSPA is currently working on delivering next-generation services based on Galileo’s precise signals, timing capabilities and robust performance.

Likewise, upon a successful public observation phase ongoing since November 2021, the Galileo OSNMA is expected to become operational within the coming year. The OSNMA is a new, breakthrough feature of Europe’s positioning system that meets a clear user need: improve the trustworthiness of GNSS signals. This service provides an authentication mechanism to allow Open Service users to verify that the navigation data they have received comes directly from Galileo and has not been modified. 

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the EUSPA website (http://www.euspa.europa.eu).

"From a historical perspective this was one the greatest achievements of the EU," says EUSPA Executive director Rodrigo da Costa. "Determining a position on the ground using only Galileo was essentially the first step towards shielding our autonomy and sovereignty in space." he highlights. 

This first position fix of longitude, latitude and altitude using the Galileo constellation took place at the Navigation Laboratory at ESA’s technical heart ESTEC, in Noordwijk, Netherlands on the morning of 12 March, with a level of accuracy between 10 and 15 metres.

Since then, Galileo has been growing, exceeding performance expectations, and enabling a multitude of applications thanks to the broad range of services it offers. 

A significant milestone was marked in 2016 with the declaration of Galileo Initial Services to become available at the end of that year providing guaranteed services to users. As of today, the EU’s positioning system offers a set of services to end users with more currently under development. 

With 28 satellites currently in orbit the system offers:

Open Service (OS): Open Service (OS) enables free-of-charge, global ranging, positioning and timing, using the Galileo OS Signal-In-Space (SIS).

Search and Rescue Service (SAR): The Galileo Search and Rescue service allows for the location of people in distress within 10 minutes and a radius below 5km. All you need is a Galileo-enabled Personal Location Beacon (PLB).  

High Accuracy Service (HAS): On the basis of this brand new service, declared operational on the 24/01/2024,  Galileo becomes the first GNSS system providing, globally and free of charge, corrections to the Galileo and GPS signals to enable a positioning accuracy down to decimetre level (when processed by a Precise Point Positioning (PPP) algorithm by the user).

"The main power of Galileo is felt in the downstream sector, especially if we think that over 4 billion Galileo-enabled smartphones have been sold and that millions of users in many sectors rely on it.” concludes EUSPA Executive Director, Rodrigo da Costa. 

Read this: Another step for EU’s positioning system: Nikolina joins the Galileo family!

What’s next?

The Galileo is being continuously improved to ensure seamless, safe and secured service delivery 24/7 to users worldwide. EUSPA is currently working on delivering next-generation services based on Galileo’s precise signals, timing capabilities and robust performance.

Likewise, upon a successful public observation phase ongoing since November 2021, the Galileo OSNMA is expected to become operational within the coming year. The OSNMA is a new, breakthrough feature of Europe’s positioning system that meets a clear user need: improve the trustworthiness of GNSS signals. This service provides an authentication mechanism to allow Open Service users to verify that the navigation data they have received comes directly from Galileo and has not been modified. 

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the EUSPA website (http://www.euspa.europa.eu).

"From a historical perspective this was one the greatest achievements of the EU," says EUSPA Executive director Rodrigo da Costa. "Determining a position on the ground using only Galileo was essentially the first step towards shielding our autonomy and sovereignty in space." he highlights. 

This first position fix of longitude, latitude and altitude using the Galileo constellation took place at the Navigation Laboratory at ESA’s technical heart ESTEC, in Noordwijk, Netherlands on the morning of 12 March 2013, with a level of accuracy between 10 and 15 metres.

Since then, Galileo has been growing, exceeding performance expectations, and enabling a multitude of applications thanks to the broad range of services it offers. 

A significant milestone was marked in 2016 with the declaration of Galileo Initial Services to become available at the end of that year providing guaranteed services to users. As of today, the EU’s positioning system offers a set of services to end users with more currently under development. 

With 28 satellites currently in orbit the system offers:

Open Service (OS): Open Service (OS) enables free-of-charge, global ranging, positioning and timing, using the Galileo OS Signal-In-Space (SIS).

Search and Rescue Service (SAR): The Galileo Search and Rescue service allows for the location of people in distress within 10 minutes and a radius below 5km. All you need is a Galileo-enabled Personal Location Beacon (PLB).  

High Accuracy Service (HAS): On the basis of this brand new service, declared operational on the 24/01/2023,  Galileo becomes the first GNSS system providing, globally and free of charge, corrections to the Galileo and GPS signals to enable a positioning accuracy down to decimetre level (when processed by a Precise Point Positioning (PPP) algorithm by the user).

"The main power of Galileo is felt in the downstream sector, especially if we think that over 4 billion Galileo-enabled smartphones have been sold and that millions of users in many sectors rely on it.” concludes EUSPA Executive Director, Rodrigo da Costa. 

Read this: Another step for EU’s positioning system: Nikolina joins the Galileo family!

What’s next?

The Galileo is being continuously improved to ensure seamless, safe and secured service delivery 24/7 to users worldwide. EUSPA is currently working on delivering next-generation services based on Galileo’s precise signals, timing capabilities and robust performance.

Likewise, upon a successful public observation phase ongoing since November 2021, the Galileo OSNMA is expected to become operational within the coming year. The OSNMA is a new, breakthrough feature of Europe’s positioning system that meets a clear user need: improve the trustworthiness of GNSS signals. This service provides an authentication mechanism to allow Open Service users to verify that the navigation data they have received comes directly from Galileo and has not been modified. 

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the EUSPA website (http://www.euspa.europa.eu).