Astrodynamics Operations - Lead Engineer Blue Ring
About The Position
Shape the Future of Space Mobility and Astrodynamics Operations. Blue Origin, and particularly the In-Space Business Unit, is pushing the boundaries of space mobility with missions spanning geostationary, cislunar, and heliocentric regimes. Our spacecraft must execute complex maneuvers using different propulsion systems—from high-thrust chemical to efficient electric propulsion—while navigating via GPS, radiometric tracking, and other advanced methods. As an Astrodynamics Operations Engineer in the Astrodynamics and Trajectory eXecution team (ATX), you lead flight-specific astrodynamics operations of a Blue Ring mission, which will consist of designing both high-thrust and low-thrust vehicle maneuvers, and processing measurements for ground-based orbit determination, and ensuring their accurate implementation within the greater ground system. You will work closely with our mission planning and spaceflight operations teams to convert astrodynamics-related vehicle activities into ground-based commands. You will interface with vertically-integrated astrodynamics algorithms. While assisting with our first-ever flight, you will also roadmap and build out our processes toward fleet-level automation. You will ensure that the operations products and processes that the navigators need are in place for the mission. The ATX team works cradle-to-grave for each mission, and members of our team are multifaceted. Beyond leading pre-launch operations activities for your assigned missions, you will contribute to core flight dynamics development in maneuver planning and orbit determination. As you grow in the role, there is a path to take on broader cross-mission responsibilities as the ATX Flight Ops Interface Lead, coordinating astrodynamics operations across the full Blue Ring fleet.
Requirements
- B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related fields.
- 3+ years of proven experience focused on satellite mission design.
- Experience performing ground-based spacecraft orbit determination or maneuvering in live operations.
- Strong fundamentals in astrodynamics, high-thrust trajectory optimization, and low-thrust trajectory optimization.
- Applied experience in navigation tools such as Monte, STK/ODTK, FreeFlyer, Copernicus, or GMAT.
- Experience in at least one of the following languages: Python, Julia, or C++.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Nice To Haves
- M.S. or Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related fields.
- Experience leading a navigation operations team during pre-launch rehearsal campaigns and during live operations.
- Experience architecting and developing navigation operations processes for satellites.
- Experience using the Monte software package.
- Experience with electric propulsion satellite missions.
- Experience with radiometric orbit determination.
- Experience with GPS-based orbit determination.
- Experience in developing and testing flight dynamics software.
- Experience with maneuver planning software systems for space satellites.
- Demonstrated knowledge of the mission design lifecycle from conceptualization through operational flight.
- Experience working on and effectively communicating with a distributed team.
- Experience with DevOps processes including configuration control, continuous development and deployment workflows, Agile methodologies, software code review.
- Previous experience with software development tooling such as Jira, git, Jenkins, Docker and at least one IDE.
- Experience using generative AI tools to expedite and automate your workflow.
- Willingness or ability to acquire Active Top Secret (TS) / Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) security clearance with Single Scope Background Investigation (SSBI) with polygraph preferred.
Responsibilities
- Lead Live Mission Operations: Design and execute critical maneuvers during flight operations with real-time decision making.
- Lead the Pre-Launch Navigation Ops Activities: Develop navigation rehearsal processes, day-in-the-life ops simulations, console logs, and facilitate the integration of flight dynamics software.
- Drive Automation: Automate astrodynamics operations processes to the limits that are possible as Blue Ring grows into fleet-wide operations.
- Collaborate Across Disciplines: Work closely with mission planners, flight operations stakeholders, payload customers, systems engineers, and vehicle engineers.
- Understand, Implement, and Integrate Core Algorithms: Perform flight dynamics algorithm development as needed, aid in its implementation into the Flight Dynamics software system, and understand its execution in the operational ground system.
- Deliver Excellence: Present results and support critical design reviews using Agile development methodologies.
- Enable Mission Success: Perform mission analysis ensuring robust mission performance across multiple operational scenarios.
- Be an Excellent Communicator: Blue Ring works with a distributed team of flight operations engineers and thus requires good communications.
Benefits
- Medical, dental, vision, basic and supplemental life insurance, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability, 401(k) with a company match of up to 5%, and an Education Support Program.
- Stock Options for all regular employees (working at least 20 hours/week)
- Paid Time Off: Up to four (4) weeks per year based on weekly scheduled hours, and up to 14 company-paid holidays.
Stand Out From the Crowd
Upload your resume and get instant feedback on how well it matches this job.
What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
