Young Professional Event 2025

31 May 2025, 18:00 → 3 Jun 2025, 23:59 Europe/Amsterdam

ESTEC

This year, we are thrilled to celebrate the 9th edition of the Young Professional Event. But 2025 isn’t just any year—it marks the 20th anniversary of Young ESA and the 50th anniversary of ESA, a moment to reflect on our achievements and chart the course for the decades ahead.

 

The Young Professional Event (YPE) is an exciting annual conference for young professionals at ESA where talks, hands-on workshops, panels, and social activities are organised over a four-day period. Young professionals from each site will come to ESTEC, transforming it into a hub for connection, networking, and knowledge exchange.

 

This year, the main event will be held on Monday 2 June at ESTEC with additional optional activities planned on the 31st May, 1st June and 3rd June. The theme is Future of Space!

 

The YPE is a fantastic opportunity to connect with fellow professionals from all ESA sites, as well as learn from our speakers’ expertise who will provide insight into what is at the forefront of ESA’s activities right now!

 

Spaces to the YPE are limited, and priority will be given to those in ESA Entry Level programmes. Note that you may only join if you have a confirmed registration. We will make sure to be fair to people that have to wait for their mission request approval. We can't wait to welcome you to ESTEC!

 

Want to know more? Check out our FAQ.

Interested? Register below.

 

 

 

Saturday 31 May

18:00 → 22:00 Social Activities (tbd): Saturday Evening

18:00 Social activity 1

Sunday 1 June

10:00 → 20:00 Social Activities (tbd): Sunday

Monday 2 June

08:00 → 09:00 ✏️ Registration

Make sure you arrive early enough with a valid ticket! We will close the doors at 9AM sharp!

09:00 → 09:30 👋 Opening Remarks

The day kicks off in grand style with the opening ceremony.

09:30 → 10:20 🌳 YPE x Environment WG

Future-Proofing Our Planet: Tackling the Environmental Challenges of the Next 60 Years

Join us for an engaging and insightful workshop focused on addressing the pressing environmental challenges posed by climate change.
The session will kick off with a collaborative brainstorming round, where participants will have the opportunity to share their thoughts on the main environmental issues we face today. Following this, attendees will break into smaller groups to creatively and analytically explore how these challenges might evolve over the next 60 years.
Each group will then identify actionable ways in which ESA could contribute to mitigating these challenges. The workshop will culminate in brief group presentations, where participants will share their findings and proposed solutions.
Finally, we will come together for a discussion and conclusion round to synthesise the insights gained and outline potential next steps. This workshop promises to be a dynamic and collaborative experience, fostering innovative ideas and practical solutions for a sustainable future.

09:30 → 10:20 🏘️ Session 1 - Planetary Settlement

What should we expect in the next 50 years regarding human presence in space? 👩‍🚀
A pool of experts in the field will address this question, by talking about the future challenges and innovations for off-Earth human settlement. 🌍 In 50 years, what will planetary human exploration look like? 🚀 Just follow our session to find out!

10:20 → 10:30 ☕ Coffee Break

10:30 → 11:50 ⚙️ CDF Workshop

Mission MACARONI

The workshop will begin with an introduction to the CDF room and the ways that experts use it to design ESA's future space missions. Right after, you will experience the CDF like a real domain expert for a special mission called MACARONI: MArs Communication And Relay Orbital Network Infrastructure.

Mission Description: In 2039, astronauts are gearing up for a thrilling journey to Mars, where they'll embark on a mission packed with excitement and discovery. But there's a problem: our future astronauts are big sports fans and don't want to leave if they can't watch the highly anticipated 2040 Summer Olympics on television! One solution: ESA must send a satellite into orbit around MARS, to enable a communications service with Mars's surface and relay TV coverage from Earth.
As part of the design team, you will play a crucial role in finalizing the equipment selection and preparing a preliminary accommodation plan for the spacecraft to ensure that the orbiter-Earth link satisfies customer requirements.

10:30 → 11:20 🕵️ YPE x Entrepreneurs WG

Mission possible: Rapid Ideation for Space Innovation

Join fellow young professionals from the space industry in an interactive and fast-paced ideation challenge! During this session, you’ll work in small teams to tackle real and forward-thinking challenges introduced at the start.
You’ll begin with a round of individual brainstorming, followed by collaborative idea sharing within your group. Using a voting matrix, the most promising ideas will be selected and refined through the Six Thinking Hats method, helping you assess their potential from different perspectives.
Then, it’s time to prepare your 1-minute pitch – each team will present their solution to the room. The goal? Inspire, innovate, and collaborate to prove that the next space mission is, indeed, Mission Possible.

10:30 → 11:20 🛡️ Session 2 - Planetary Defence

The topic? Planetary defence, nothing less. Three experts, three groundbreaking missions, and you, the audience, right at the heart of it all. Get your questions ready (yes, we're talking about nudging asteroids) and dive into the technologies that could save our planet!
NEOMIR – an infrared eye in the sky, spotting asteroids hidden by the glare of the Sun 🌞
RAMSES – a close-up exploration of the Apophis asteroid: think of it as a space selfie, but with more danger and way more science. 📸🪐
PAN – the ultimate precision mission: giving tiny nudges (literally) to an asteroid that risks getting too close. A series of small pushes adds up to a big difference in the asteroid's ultimate trajectory! 💥🚀

Get your questions ready, because this event might just be our last chance to ask your questions before one of those asteroids comes knocking at our door. 😜

Prepare to discover the technologies that turn science fiction… into reality! 🌟

11:20 → 11:50 🤝 YP Speed Networking Session

Seize the opportunity to meet other Young Professionals at YPE’s Professional Networking Session! Connect with fellow YPs to share your experiences, gain new insights, and expand your network.

Join us for 30 minutes of dynamic networking! Participants will be divided into groups where they can choose between:
🔹 Professional Discussions – Engage in conversations on space-related topics.
🔹 Interactive Games – Meet new people through fun and engaging activities.

11:50 → 12:45 💼 Session 3 - Commercialisation

Space exploration is entering an exciting new era, and it’s all fueled by investment and innovation! 🚀 We will be talking about building planetary and interplanetary infrastructure, unlocking the hidden resources scattered across our solar system, and doing it all in a way that’s sustainable for the long term. 🌍💫 The goal is to create a future where space exploration benefits everyone on Earth, paving the way for new opportunities and discoveries. Let’s make the solar system work for us!

11:50 → 12:45 🛸 Philosophy Workshop

Echoes of Earth: How shall we live… Out there?

What kind of world would we create if we could start from scratch, on a brand-new planet? In this workshop we will time-travel into the future in a thought-experiment and prepare for settling on a distant planet.
The session will start with a short introduction of 'Ardanis IV', an Earth-like exoplanet that humanity has identified as a new habitat. You will then step into the role of advisors tasked with designing the foundations of a human society there.

Divided into ‘expert committees’ you will explore philosophical questions about different aspects of how humans might live together on this new world. Each 'committee' will return with a short proposal outlining how their area of society should be set up.

Put together, these ideas will form a shared vision of a society on Ardanis IV. This workshop invites creative collaboration and big-picture thinking, and gives you an opportunity to reimagine what it means to build a society.

12:45 → 14:00 🍴 Lunch

14:00 → 16:00 🤵 DG Session

Join us for an inspiring event with our Director General! He will share his vision for the future of space exploration and innovation. Following his talk, the DG will be joined by a panel of esteemed experts, diving into an engaging discussion about the future of European Space. To wrap up, there will be a Q&A session where you can ask your questions.

Speaker: Josef Aschbacher

16:00 → 16:55 🏆 Poster Session

At the YPE, you’ll have the opportunity to showcase your project with a poster in a designated area for all attendees. Attendees can freely explore the posters, and you’ll have the chance to present your work to them. Your poster can cover any topic you’ve worked on, whether it’s in science, technology, education, or business—everyone is welcome to participate. Attendees will be able to vote for their favourite poster during the event, and the winner will receive a prize!

Note that there are only a limited number of spots available for the poster session. In the case of too many submissions, a selection process may be implemented. Therefore, we currently cannot guarantee that your poster will be accepted for display.

16:00 → 16:55 🖌️ YPE x Advocacy WG x ESA Communications

Making ESA a Household Name

We all want ESA to be a household name. Many outreach ideas have been thrown around the YP community with the hope of changing this. This session is to brainstorm and settle on one or two actionable projects for Young ESA to carry forward in partnership with the ESA Communications Team. If you’re motivated to spend some time in 2025 to help push ESA’s image outward then join us to discuss!

A brainstorming and discussion session will be held to identify how Young ESA can extend ESA's reach, spread ESA's image, and shout to the world that we exist. This could be by supporting an existing comms initiative, or if there is momentum and motivation toward a fresh concept then perhaps a new Young ESA project is seeded. Representatives from ESA Communications will be present to support the discussion.

16:55 → 17:45 👽 Session 4 - Sci-Fi: How Art and Technology Work Together for Space

Have you ever thought about how your favourite science fiction TV shows, movies, or books came to be? Or how they might have inspired real-life ESA missions? In this session, 4 Incredible panellists will be exploring the intersection between art and technology for space. A range of creatives and experts on the future of ESA will be answering your questions, and exploring what space science and space science fiction might look like 50 years from now.

17:45 → 18:15 👋 Closing Remarks

20:30 → 00:00 🥂 Gala

Get ready for an unforgettable night at the YPE 2025 Gala evening! You can register for the Gala in the registration form. Tickets include complementary drinks, snacks, and live music at a wonderful venue right in the heart of Leiden. You can expect an evening filled with fun, music, new friends, and a great way to round off what will be an incredible day at YPE!

Tuesday 3 June

11:00 → 13:00 👩 Breaking Barriers: Shaping Futures Through Dialogue and Mentorship

Join us for an inspiring session designed to empower young professionals in the space industry!

🚀 Part 1 – Panel Discussion
Experts from ESA with diverse backgrounds will share their experiences and inspire discussions on how to support and empower YPs in the space industry.

☕ Coffee Break & Interactive Activity
During the coffee break you will have the chance to:
• Submit anonymous questions for the second part of the session.
• Share and answer questions with fellow YPs using interactive discussion boards.

🚀 Part 2 – (Anonymous) Q&A with Speakers
• Anonymous questions collected during the coffee break will be addressed by the speakers. Don’t hold back—this is your chance to ask even the most challenging questions!
• You also have the opportunity to ask your questions to the speakers directly!

14:00 → 16:00 🎮 EDI Interactive Session

The Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Young ESA Working Group is delighted to invite you to our EDI session at the YPE!
Are you passionate about equality, diversity and inclusion, but never get the chance to engage with them in your everyday life? Or maybe you've only heard of these topics, but never got around diving deeper? Then the EDI session is the right place for you!
On Tuesday 3 June from 14:00 to 16:00, the Young ESA working group on EDI will offer you an afternoon full of games, group activities, and open discussions. Together we will explore the trials and benefits related to the core values of our group: equality, diversity, and inclusion. From challenging your assumptions on how much (or how little!) you have in common with your colleagues, to opening your mind to different experiences of the world and testing your competitive spirit, this will be a unique opportunity to engage with equality, diversity and inclusion in an interactive way, to gain new perspectives, and to strengthen our sense of community.
Come along and join us! You'll laugh, you'll learn, and you might even earn a prize!🏆
If you are interested in participating, let us know through this form!
Registrations close on 30/04/2025!

For privacy reasons, the form will be anonymous.

14:00 → 16:00 🧪Lab Tours

Get ready to explore the cutting-edge facilities at ESA with our exciting lab tours! We are offering tours of a variety of the labs at ESTEC. Keep an eye on your emails for the registration form for these tours.

Here are the labs that are offering tours:

🛰️ YPSat Laboratory
The Young Professionals Satellite (YPSat) laboratory is focused on the development of the Angiology in Microgravity (AIM) experiment, which studies the impact that microgravity has on blood flow dynamics, focusing on deep vein thrombosis. Led by team members, the tour will provide an overview of the project's current progress, showcasing various components including 3D printed models and a set up of the vein.

⚡Materials & Electrical Components Laboratory
Made up of more than 20 dedicated experimental facilities and hundreds of instruments overall, the Materials & Electrical Components Laboratory guarantees an optimal choice of electrical components, materials and processes for ESA missions and external projects.

One tour will cover the Environmental Test Laboratories and the Cleanliness and Contamination Control Laboratories. The environmental test laboratory uses unique test facilities to replicate one or more detrimental factors of the space environment, including dedicated facilities for synergistic testing. The Material's Physics and Chemistry Laboratory offers expert advice on cleanliness and contamination control, quantifies particulate & molecular contamination levels, audits cleanroom facilities tests materials, flight hardware for their contamination potential and performs bake-outs.

A second tour will cover the Electrical Components Laboratory. This lab maintains numerous facilities to carry out various analyses and tests to ensure reliable EEE Components (Electrical, Electronic and Electro-mechanical) on ESA missions and external projects. The laboratory offers services in the areas of: Failure Analysis, Destructive Physical Analysis, Reliability Analysis, Radiation Effect Characterisation.

🌕Life Support and Physical Science Laboratory
The Life Support & Physical Sciences Instrumentation Laboratory supports work on life and physical sciences instrumentation and experiments for microgravity research, life support and environmental control and other exploration related activities, including experimental testing or rehearsing space mission payloads, life support system development or activities for planetary exploration. The Lab can investigate and test a wide variety of factors, including prolonged effects of low- or hyper-gravities. Its facilities also support flight projects, such as ATV disinfection and microbiological control campaigns, planetary protection-related activities for ExoMars, lunar lander payloads and technology development activities.

🚀ESA Propulsion Laboratory
The ESA Propulsion Laboratory (EPL) is an operational facility at ESTEC in the spacecraft propulsion testing field. The EPL provides test services to the ESA Propulsion and Aerothermodynamics Division, which is responsible at European Space Agency for R&D activities and support to projects in the areas of chemical propulsion, electric and advanced propulsion and aerothermodynamics.

🛰️Test Centre
The Test Centre hosts in a single location the most advanced facilities and measurement tools: a world-class infrastructure qualified to execute environmental testing (vibration, acoustic, electro-magnetic, thermal-vacuum) on all types and sizes of specimens to verify that they are suitable for the purpose. ESA’s Test Centre has supported many historic missions, Europe’s 20-tonne ATV space truck and Envisat, the world’s largest civilian Earth-observing mission, no less than 22 Galileo ‘Full Operational Capability’ satellites and the multi-module BepiColombo spacecraft currently journeying to Mercury.

16:00 → 17:30 🚀 Space Slam

🚀 Join the Space Slam! 🌌

Are you passionate about space? Do you have a cosmic idea or project you'd love to share? Here's your chance! Present your space-related topic in a fun and engaging 5-10 minute presentation. Whether you choose to dance, sing, rhyme, or showcase dynamic slides filled with memes, the stage is yours. Every participant will win the audience's admiration, but the most entertaining and innovative talk will receive a unique prize. No rules, except the time limit. Gain public speaking experience in front of the friendliest crowd imaginable. Share what inspires or challenges you about space, and let your creativity shine!