Internal Research Fellow

Internal Research Fellow (PostDoc) in Solutions for Space System Cyber Security Resilience

**Job Requisition ID**:19707

**Date Posted**:7 July 2025

**Closing Date**:11 August 2025 23:59 CET/CEST

**Publication**:External Only

**Type of Contract**:Internal Research Fellow

**Directorate**:Operations

**Workplace**:Darmstadt, DE

**Grade**:F2 - F2

**Location**
ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany

**Our team and mission**
You will join the Ground Segment System and Cybersecurity Engineering Section in the System and Applications Engineering Division, Ground Systems Engineering & Innovation Department, Directorate of Operations at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC). The Section is responsible for driving cyber security research and development applied to the ground segment and operations domains, for the procurement and delivery of data systems in support of ESA’s Space Safety Programme, and as a matrix support provider to ESA programmes and mission operations infrastructure for ground segment system security engineering.You will work closely with other cyber security actors within the Agency, and in particular the ESA Security Office. The Security Office is the Agency’s security authority. It is responsible, among other things, for the procurement and delivery of major resilience programmes, including the Agency’s Space Cyber Security Centre of Excellence (SCCoE) and the Cyber Safety and Security Operations Centre (C-SOC).The security of space systems is becoming ever more paramount as space assets provide increasingly critical services to society and as the technological and geopolitical landscape leads to a more volatile threat environment. Across the Agency, major initiatives are underway to ensure the cyber resilience of ESA’s corporate and mission operations infrastructures and future programmes. These initiatives include wide-ranging, crucial research and development initiatives to ensure readiness for the future threat landscape.Within this context, there remain several open challenges, areas of research and opportunities to advance the state-of-the-art in the space system cyber security domain. The European Space Agency is seeking a post-doctoral Internal Research Fellow to perform state-of the-art research in solutions for space system cyber security resilience.The focus of the activity is to advance the state of the art and develop solutions that can be used to support users throughout ESA and the wider European community.- **Field(s) of activity/research for the traineeship**
1) Secure software engineering for space data systems- Exploring advanced solutions for vulnerability detection and management, such as code exposure, coverage, and secure patching/update architectures as part of DevSecOps processes;
- Validating mission data system software interfaces and service-specific input sanitisation techniques;
- Contributing to data system evolution in the domain of zero-trust, cloud-native, infrastructure
- Run-time anti-tamper and detection software architectures and patterns for space and ground-segment systems.
2) Digital system security engineering- Developing and curating reference asset architectures, threat and control catalogues for instantiating space system risk assessments;
- Deriving formal techniques and metrics to assess system cyber posture and resilience throughout system development and operational lifecycles;
- Developing techniques for context-aware conciliation of software component vulnerabilities and system-level risks.
3) Advanced security emulation and testing- Leveraging novel emulation and automated testing capabilities, including spacecraft digital twins, automated penetration testing frameworks and ESA’s Space Cyber Centre of Excellence;
- Designing and extending representative ground system honeypot and deception solutions;
- Deriving threat models and verifying novel attack vectors associated with the spin-in of applied artificial intelligence to the space system domain;
- Designing and conducting representative capture-the-flag exercises, and in-orbit cyber exercise and technology demonstrations utilising ESA’s SCCoE, SpaceSecLab and IOD platforms (e.g. OPS-SAT Volt/2, CyberCube).
.4) Tailored and applied security monitoring for space systems- Extending ESA’s Space Cyber Operations Centre detection and response capabilities in the context of space communication protocols and mission operations, leveraging artificial intelligence where appropriate;
- Developing and validating approaches for ground/space segment threat collection via existing and novel interfaces, including multi-source sensor intelligence collection, fusion and dissemination.-
- Implementing forensic investigations and testing using both simulated space environments and real-world data to ensure comprehensive coverage and accuracy;
- Developing actionable recommendation and reporting techniques to enhance the utility of forensic investigations in space systems and missions.
6) Crypto key management an