Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), is a key European player in space telecommunications, navigation, Earth observation, exploration and orbital infrastructures. Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio form the two parent companies’ “Space Alliance”, which offers a complete range of services and solutions. It has unrivalled expertise in dual (civil/military) missions, constellations, flexible payloads, altimetry, meteorology and high-resolution optical and radar instruments. The company posted consolidated revenues in excess of 2.2 billion euros in 2022, and has 8,500 employees across 18 sites in 10 countries.

TAS-UK Ltd was established in 2013 and is part of TAS’s growing European footprint, now comprising of more than 200 people in the UK. The TAS development in the UK has arisen from key capability areas. This includes the creation of a research and development centre, focused on exploration, science R&T and prime engineering with a view to support the long-term technology roadmaps of international space agencies.

TAS-UK has been defined as the Propulsion Centre of Competence for the whole of the TAS organisation. The UK team covers all activities related to propulsion matters, such as engineering (design activities, subsystem justification including mechanical and thermal analyses, slosh and plume effect analysis), procurement, subsystem tests, units and processes qualification, production, AIT including test campaign at launch pad(propellant/gas filling), launch and in-orbit activities (including disposal operations) and monitoring.

Our Opportunity:

This role is a 2-month summer placement lasting 8 weeks. The aim is to setup a database for propulsion equipment, in order to support both Systems Engineering and Procurement teams for various activities including costing assessments, bids, architecture trade-offs, and equipment selection.

It is will need to include as much beneficial details as possible (equipment datasheets, costings, heritage, TRLs, related specifications / URD and further details). The applicant will draw from an existing simplified list of equipment, and will need to reach out to numerous individuals in various teams in order to capture the data and issue it into a user-friendly database, which will also need to be robust / easy to maintain in the future.

This is a unique opportunity to get direct exposure to the Space Industry, as well as a direct experience of working with Systems and Procurement engineers. The applicant will also gain a broad vision of typical fluidic equipment used in space propulsion systems (tanks, valves, thrusters, Pressure regulators…) and get direct hardware knowledge in a fast-paced industry. The activity will also provide an overview of suppliers and present / past programmes in TAS UK, as well as a working experience of space propulsion architecture, equipment datasheets, specifications, quotes and heritage data.

Expected Behaviours:

• Can clearly demonstrate technical expertise in related field

• Analytical mind-set and attention to detail

• Team player who is enthusiastic and can confidently interface to a range of teams within a company

• Proactive and capable of working on own initiative with high level of integrity

• Learns fast, takes feedback well, enjoys high paced/changing environments

Qualifications, Skills & Experience:

The following are considered essential for this role:

• Be in progress of (or have gained) a bachelor’s degree in a STEM subject. Other applicable technical or related degrees will also be considered

• Familiarity with Excel is required and knowledge of VBA is a plus.

• Desirable: A space or engineering background with a focus / emphasis on hardware is a plus

Process details:

• 8 weeks minimum fixed term contract to be agreed with successful candidate

• In-person Induction Event to be held on 24-June-2024, and an in-person/hybrid Showcase Event to be held in the autumn of 2024

• 5 days holiday to be taken during the placement