Netherlands Noordwijk

European Space Agency (ESA)

The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe's intergovernmental space organisation, founded in 1975 and today counting more than twenty member states. Its largest site, the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), lies in Noordwijk on the Dutch coast and is the… The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe's intergovernmental space organisation, founded in 1975 and today counting more than twenty member states. Its largest site, the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), lies in Noordwijk on the Dutch coast and is the agency's main technology development and test centre for spacecraft and space technology; it is where most ESA missions are designed and where their flight hardware is tested before launch. ESA's other establishments include its headquarters in Paris, the mission operations centre ESOC in Darmstadt, the Earth observation centre ESRIN near Rome, the astronomy centre ESAC near Madrid and ECSAT in the United Kingdom. ESA's programmes span science and exploration, Earth observation, human and robotic spaceflight, navigation, telecommunications, launchers, space safety and technology development. Its scientists and engineers work with national space agencies, research institutes, universities and European industry, and the agency publishes a substantial share of the space research carried out in Europe. For researchers ESA offers a research fellowship programme for postdoctoral scientists and engineers, the Young Graduate Trainee programme for recent master's graduates, internships for students, and staff positions in science, engineering and operations. All vacancies across ESA's sites are published on the agency's central careers site.