Internship: On-board AI for Autonomous Spacecraft

About Solenix and our qualities
Solenix is a privately owned and international company providing engineering and consulting services in the space market, with branches in Germany, Switzerland, Portugal and Italy. We deliver reliable software, AI and data-intensive applications for the space industry.
Our tools and our people support daily mission operations and engineers at ESA, EUMETSAT and companies across Europe. We are known for high-quality services, user-oriented solutions, long-term partnerships and constructive collaboration.

Context
As the number of satellite constellations grows, flight control teams who need to monitor, command, and control fleets are under increasing pressure. More on-board autonomy is needed, which means deploying intelligent algorithms safely under the harsh constraints of the space environment: limited resources and exposure to radiation.

Role:
We are looking for a master-level intern for 6 and up to 12 months who wants to carry out an end-of-studies project (e.g. master's thesis or gap year) at the intersection of AI/ML, embedded/flight software and spacecraft operations.

The successful candidate will work with and learn from experts in AI/ML applied to space engineering, with real impact on the company's ongoing research and projects.

Expected activities:

• Get familiar with space operations, satellite engineering, subsystems and the effects of the space environment on spacecraft.
• Identify flight software design constraints related to space-representative compute (e.g. power, memory).
• Design, implement and evaluate AI/ML models (e.g. classic ML or lightweight neural networks for anomaly detection; not generative AI).
• Contribute to space mission definition, subsystem scope and fault scenarios for testing.
• Package code and deploy models on an space-representative compute hardware.
• Benchmark performance (e.g latency, stability and robustness).
• Select and implement FDIR and/or optimisation algorithms suitable for increasing spacecraft autonomy.
• Organise your own work and schedule to meet the defined objectives.
• Write clear documentation and justify design decisions.

Requirements:

• You are enrolled in a Master's degree or equivalent in one of these fields (or similar): Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Embedded Systems, Space Systems Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Software Engineering.
• Knowledge of, or a strong desire to learn about, AI and machine learning, specifically on-board AI and constraints as part of flight software.
• Knowledge of, or a strong desire to learn about, space engineering and operations.
• Demonstrated analytical skills.
• You follow through on your commitments.
• You are not afraid of uncertainty, and you ask questions along the way.
• Able to organise your own work and schedule to meet defined objectives.
• Fluent in English.

Work Location

• This is a hybrid role based in Basel, Switzerland, combining regular on-site collaboration with the flexibility to work from home part of the week.