VEGA and ESOC
ESOC is the European Space Operations Centre 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, a contract that we
still hold today.
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 at ESOC. We support a wide range of satellite missions
encompassing communications, earth observation, and 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 flyhing missions, we are also involved in pre-launch
preparation activities ofr 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 several 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 and 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 thirrd line support to
existing systems.
- Flight Dynamics and Navigation – VEGA supports
both the Flight Dynamics and Navigation departments at ESOC with
specifically qualified staff.
VEGA staff at ESOC
Our team at ESOC comes 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
- Missikon 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 and Testing
- Computer Systems Engineering
- Network Engineering
- Flight Dynamics
- Navigation
- Space Weather
- Space Situational Awareness
- Embedded Software Development
Individual VEGA staff members are nominally integrated into a
multinational Flight Control Team, which comprises contractors and
permanent ESA staff. On most Projects, the ESA staff provide the
management and the contractors with 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 with 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, as well as the possibility of working 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 two minute walk from
ESOC. From these offices, our work includes undertaking 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, and SWARM.
Related Link about ESOC
» European Space Operations
Centre