Job profile 8 of 8 · Example: ESA Space Debris Office, Darmstadt
Space safety: keeping an eye on 47,070 objects
Surveillance networks regularly track 47,070 objects in orbit, as of 31 July 20265. ESA's Space Debris Office in Darmstadt uses this to predict collisions, recommend avoidance manoeuvres and compute when old satellites will re-enter30.
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01 · Research
What is researched here: 230 million pieces nobody can see
Only larger objects can be tracked. ESA's statistical models also estimate 1.5 million pieces between 1 and 10 centimetres and 230 million between 1 millimetre and 1 centimetre5.
In 2025 there were more than 300 launches with more than 4,000 new payloads. According to the 2026 environment report, the health index of the space environment jumped from about 4 to 50 in 1 year, a deterioration by an order of magnitude31.
For risk assessment, ESA tests machine learning, for example with the open Python library Kessler. It reads conjunction data messages, makes predictions and explains how the model decides32.
As a table
| Group | Number |
|---|---|
| regularly tracked | 47,070 |
| over 10 cm (model) | 68,450 |
| 1 to 10 cm (model) | 1,500,000 |
| 1 mm to 1 cm (model) | 230,000,000 |
02 · End product
The end product: warnings that save satellites
The Space Debris Office provides ESA missions and other operators with forecasts, risk assessments and avoidance manoeuvre recommendations. It predicts when and where objects re-enter, how they break up and how large the risk on the ground is30.
The basis is the DISCOS database with information on all trackable objects30. On average, more than 3 satellites or rocket bodies re-enter the atmosphere every day31.
03 · Daily work
What the work looks like: 5 tasks for a safe orbit
- Assess collision risk: for ESA missions and other operators.
- Process warnings: check conjunction messages and refine the prediction.
- Recommend avoidance: propose manoeuvres before it gets close.
- Predict re-entry: time, location, break-up and risk on the ground.
- Maintain data: the DISCOS database with all trackable objects.
Tasks based on ESA's description of the Space Debris Office30.
Keywords from the sources
04 · Your path
Your way in: 4 steps
HTL, computer science
With your own SatNOGS ground station, as in the STS1 project, you receive signals from objects in orbit57.
Bachelor
Computer science or mathematics; statistics and machine learning are central here.
Master
Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity in Klagenfurt62 or Space Sciences in Graz36.
Entry
As an ESA Graduate Trainee1; the Space Debris Office is at ESOC in Darmstadt30.
05 · Who is hiring?