VEGA at ESOC

ESOC is the European Space Operations Centre facility of the European Space Agency (ESA) based in Darmstadt, Germany. In fact, this is the place where it all began for VEGA. We signed our first contract with ESOC in 1978, to provide support in the area of Satellite Operations, a contract that we still hold today, over 30 years later.

 

ESOC

Working at ESOC means working at Europe’s primary space operations centre, potentially on a wide range of satellite projects, at the forefront of space science and technology, with a high level of technical responsibility and in a multinational, multicultural environment.

 

Today, VEGA has over 70 employees from 14 different countries based on the client’s premises at ESOC. We support a wide range of satellite missions encompassing communications, earth observation, manned space, science and technology projects. We are dedicated to the space industry and have a strong culture of teaming. Not just with other VEGA staff and our offices in Germany, but also with our colleagues in ESOC and other contractors with whom we work and socialise on a day to day basis.

 

ESOC projects supported by VEGA

At ESOC, VEGA supports projects from a variety of different programme lines.

 

  • Earth Observation (EO) - EO missions currently supported include ERS-2, ENVISAT and GOCE. We are also supporting the pre-launch preparation activities for the CRYOSAT-2, ADM-AEOLUS, SWARM and SENTINEL missions.
  • Science - The science missions can be described as those missions having a defined orbit; such as CLUSTER-2, XMM, ULYSSES, INTEGRAL, HERSCHEL and PLANCK. In addition to these flying missions we are also involved in the pre-launch preparation activities for GAIA, BEPI-COLOMBO and LISA PATHFINDER.
  • Deep Space - This category covers missions with a prescribed destination; such as MARS EXPRESS, VENUS EXPRESS, ROSETTA and BEPI-COLUMBO. Support is also being provided to the EXOMARS programme.
  • Communications – We have been supporting the GIOVE-B activities for a number of years and this has progressed into a wide range of support being provided to the GALILEO programme.
  • Manned Space – Within the area of Manned Space we cover a wide range of support activities for ESA, specifically for the ISS and ATV programmes.
  • LEOP (Launch & Early Orbit Phase) - ESOC has an unrivalled history of launch preparations and missions supported through the expansive & unique ESTRACK (European Space Tracking Station) network of Ground Stations. ESOC sells an LEOP service to commercial customers, such that the customers do not have to invest in a one-off LEOP network. MSG-1, MSG-2 and METOP are some recent examples. This service will be extended to cover SENTINEL-3, GALILEO and future EUMETSAT programmes.
  • ICT Evolution – Without a modern, effective and technologically advanced communications network, supporting such a wide variety of programmes with numerous external connections in a secure manner would not be feasible. We provide Communications and Computer Systems Consultants to evolve the current ICT infrastructure and provide 3rd Line support to existing systems.
  • Flight Dynamics & Navigation – VEGA supports both the Flight Dynamics and Navigation departments at ESOC with specifically qualified staff.

 

VEGA staff at ESOC

Our team at ESOC come from a wide range of cultural and geographic backgrounds. All staff are degree-level qualified, having studied an engineering, science or telecommunications discipline, and have several years experience in the Space Industry.

VEGA is contracted to provide engineering staff to ESOC to cover a range of posts, including:

 

  • Payload Operations
  • Platform Operations
  • AOCS Operations
  • Data Management Systems
  • Power & Thermal
  • Propulsion
  • Communications
  • Flight Control System development
  • Mission Planning development and operations
  • Ground Segment Interface development
  • Remote Ground Station Operations
  • Future Studies Engineering
  • On-Board Software Maintenance
  • Ground Segment and Satellite Simulator development
  • FCT (Flight Control Team) Training/Simulations Officer
  • Integration & Testing
  • Computer Systems Engineering
  • Network Engineering
  • Flight Dynamics
  • Navigation
  • Space Weather
  • Space Situational Awareness
  • Embedded Software Development

 

Individual VEGA staffs are nominally integrated into a multinational Flight Control Team or Divisional team, which comprises contractors and permanent ESA staff. On most Projects, the ESA staffs provide the management and the contractors the engineering support. Within the FCT, engineering staff are assigned tasks, either with prime or secondary responsibility. For all of the satellite sub-systems, an attempt is made to provide an overlap between staff of areas of expertise, which is essential in the case of small teams.

 

More recently, movement between one project and another has been on the increase over the last few years, as well as the possibility to work on one or more projects at the same time. As the tendency is now for smaller-scale missions with a more rapid development cycle, the times of the large teams with a specialist for each sub-system are fast disappearing. More often than not, VEGA is asked to provide engineers capable of covering multiple and sometimes unrelated subsystems.

In addition, VEGA staff support ESOC from Europahaus, VEGA’s office in Darmstadt located a convenient 2 minute walk from ESOC. From these offices we undertake a number of studies and development projects for ESOC.

 

VEGA involvement in satellite missions:

  • Past: OTS, ECS, MARECS B2, OLYMPUS, METEOSAT, GEOS, EXOSAT, GIOTTO, HIPPARCOS, ERS-1, EURECA, ISO, CRYOSAT-1, ULYSSES, ATV-1, HUYGENS & SMART-1.
  • Flying: XMM, ERS-2, CLUSTER-2, ISS, ENVISAT, INTEGRAL, MARS EXPRESS, VENUS EXPRESS, MSG-2, GOCE, GIOVE-B, HERSCHEL-PLANCK, ROSETTA and METOP.
  • In preparation: ADM-AEOLUS,  CRYOSAT-2, LISA PATHFINDER, METOP 2, GALILEO, SENTINEL 1 & 2, EARTHCARE, CRYOSAT 2 and SWARM.

 

Please visit the ESOC website for further information.