Senior Mission Design Engineer

About this Role

We are seeking a highly talented, self-motivated Senior Mission Design Engineer (you may also know this as trajectory design, flight dynamics, or astrodynamics) to join our rapidly growing startup. As part of our larger Autonomous Systems team, you will have the technical leadership opportunity to create, design and implement full-cycle mission planning and orbital mechanics profiles for future reentry vehicles, unlocking the future of space factories with rapid flight and entry for next generation products.

You will work closely with a top-notch multidisciplinary vehicle engineering team to architect the mission plan and trajectory of the world’s first commercial reentry vehicle, enabling the ability to precision land and return manufactured products to earth. You’ll own and develop modeling and simulation infrastructure and tooling to help ensure trajectory design and reentry profile are accurate, reliable, and safe. You will own the full cycle of mission planning and orbital dynamics development, from requirements definition and design to mission planning and on-orbit and reentry operations. We are looking for engineers who enjoy solving complex and open-ended problems, can work effectively in a fast-paced environment and share our passion in creating in-space industry.

Responsibilities

Perform trajectory design, optimization, and dispersion analysis for the reentry of a next generation space vehicle

Design spacecraft trajectories and produce orbital analyses for commercial reentry vehicles

Optimize trajectories based on fuel, time, and/or performance characteristics

Work closely with propulsion, software and flight operations teams to ensure vehicle and mission objectives are accomplished in the vehicle design

Design and implementation of autonomous satellite navigational solutions, collision avoidance, orbital rendezvous, and atmospheric re-entry algorithms

Running Monte Carlo analysis to characterize performance of new features

Lead the development of new vehicle capabilities

Develop and maintain ground-based mission operations tooling in support of automated and scalable on-orbit operations

Support in-orbit operations as trajectory specialist, including coordination with other spacecraft operators and 3rd party entities

Required Skills

Teamwork skills are necessary to solve problems in a collaborative environment

Ability to scope projects including requirements capture and initial design trades given open-ended problems

Develop 6 degree of freedom vehicle simulation using C++ and Python

Perform trajectory design, optimization, and dispersion analysis for the reentry of a space capsule

Mission specific analysis for customer launch and in support of business development

Basic Qualifications

B.S. degree in aerospace, mechanical, electrical engineering, physics, or related field

5+ proven years of experience, or PhD with 3+ years of relevant experience

Demonstrated knowledge in designing, modeling, testing, and flying orbital trajectories or aerospace guidance, navigation, and control systems

Highly adept software and model development skills, particularly in C++/Python/Matlab

Understanding of orbital mechanics, modeling and simulation, and software development

Experience anchoring/fitting first principles models to test data or high-fidelity external simulations

Proven system engineering and configuration management skills

Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Preferred Skills and Experience

Understanding of multi-body dynamics, flexible body dynamics, gas dynamics, fluids, and thermodynamics

Experience developing and verifying physical models for the purpose of control design, component sizing, and system performance evaluation

Experience supporting flight test or flying spacecraft

Ability to continuously manage risk and provide solutions with lean software development techniques

Experience with project management for cradle-to-grave projects

Prior work in a technical leadership role for a launch vehicle or satellite development effort

Prior work in a startup or agile development environment

Capability to solve complex problems autonomy as an individual or as a member of an integrated team

Passion for advancing the commercial space industry

Pay Range

Salary range: $169,067 - $216,031/per year

This role is on-site in El Segundo, CA

Leveling and base salary is determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance

You will be eligible for long-term incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards