Deep Space Ground Navigation Engineer III

Blue Origin•Littleton, CO

21h•$119,814 - $167,739

About The Position

Blue Origin’s In-Space Systems business unit operates spacecraft across demanding regimes, from geostationary orbit to cislunar space and interplanetary destinations. This position is on the Astrodynamics and Trajectory Execution (ATX) team, which is responsible for end-to-end trajectory design and ground navigation. The team is developing navigation capabilities for missions to the Moon and Mars using high-thrust and electric propulsion, and building an operational deep-space navigation capability. In this hands-on role, you will independently own significant portions of a mission’s navigation process, spanning analysis, software development, and live flight operations. You will drive navigation from requirements definition and pre-launch analysis through reviews, rehearsals, and mission operations; generate and assess orbit solutions; contribute to live deep-space navigation; develop operational software and models; and help automate workflows as the team scales. You will collaborate with trajectory designers, flight operations, systems engineering, and external tracking-network partners, represent navigation in reviews, and mentor junior navigators. The position is part of Blue National Security (BNS), focused on designing, developing, and delivering launch and spacecraft systems for national security missions. The role is tailored primarily to deep-space navigation supporting civil missions in Mars and cislunar space; candidates with clearance may have opportunities to contribute to the broader range of ATX mission work. Applicants must meet the stated U.S. citizenship, permanent-residency, refugee, or asylum status requirement.

Requirements

M.S. in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field with 5+ years of relevant experience, or a Ph.D. with 3+ years of relevant experience.
Strong working knowledge of astrodynamics, orbital mechanics, and statistical orbit determination and estimation theory, including batch least squares, sequential filtering, and covariance analysis.
Demonstrated experience performing radiometric orbit determination using Doppler and range measurements, including modeling, reconstructing, and calibrating high-thrust maneuvers.
Proficiency in at least one of Python, Julia, or C++, with experience developing and testing analysis or operational software.
Applied experience with orbit-determination tools such as Monte, STK/ODTK, FreeFlyer, or GMAT.
Experience supporting spacecraft mission operations, mission rehearsals, or comparable time-critical operational environments.
Ability to work independently, scope ambiguous technical problems, and deliver results with minimal oversight.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including presenting technical results in design reviews and authoring technical documentation.
Ability to earn trust, maintain positive and professional relationships, and contribute to a culture of inclusion.
Must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum.

Nice To Haves

Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
Experience navigating spacecraft in cislunar or interplanetary environments, including interfacing with the Deep Space Network.
Experience navigating spacecraft with electric propulsion, including modeling and estimating continuous low-thrust accelerations.
Applied orbit-determination experience in the Monte toolkit, including integrating algorithms into operational flight dynamics software.
Experience processing real flight tracking data, including Doppler, range, or Delta-DOR measurements.
Experience developing or validating dynamical and measurement models for high-fidelity orbit determination.
End-to-end mission lifecycle experience (SRR, PDR, CDR, ORR, rehearsals), including live navigation operations during mission-critical events, ideally on a deep-space mission.
Experience owning a navigation product for a mission phase, such as an orbit-determination setup, navigation plan, or operations procedure.
Experience mentoring engineers and communicating effectively across a distributed team.
Experience with DevOps practices and tooling, including configuration control, CI/CD, code review, Jira, git, Docker, Terraform, and Ansible.
Experience using generative AI tools to expedite and automate workflow.
Current TS/SCI clearance with polygraph, or willingness to obtain and maintain one.

Responsibilities

Own mission navigation from requirements definition and pre-launch orbit determination and covariance analysis through gated reviews, mission rehearsals, and flight operations.
Author navigation plans, analysis reports, and operations procedures.
Define orbit-determination filter strategies, estimated parameters, and tracking-data requirements.
Process Doppler, range, and Delta-DOR data to generate orbit solutions for cislunar and interplanetary spacecraft, accounting for long light times, solar conjunction, and planetary gravity and atmosphere modeling.
Communicate orbit-solution quality, uncertainty, and risk to mission leadership.
Perform live navigation operations through launch, cruise (including low-thrust phases), trajectory correction maneuvers, planetary approach, and orbit insertion.
Make solution-acceptance and maneuver-readiness recommendations under real-time constraints.
Partner with ATX trajectory designers on maneuver-design inputs, delivery accuracy, and maneuver reconstruction and calibration.
Develop and test navigation algorithms and data-processing tools in Python, Julia, C++, and Monte, and work with the flight dynamics software architect to integrate them into ATX’s Monte-based system.
Define model-fidelity requirements and develop and validate force models, measurement models, and simulation tools for high-fidelity navigation analysis.
Automate orbit determination, tracking-data processing, and navigation-product workflows, including through generative AI.
Collaborate with ATX, flight operations, systems engineering, and external tracking-network partners.
Represent navigation in reviews and mentor junior navigators.
Scope, estimate, and plan work in deliverable increments using tools such as Jira and git.

Benefits

Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
Basic and supplemental life insurance.
Paid parental leave.
Short- and long-term disability.
401(k) with company match of up to 5%.
Education Support Program.
Stock options for all regular employees working at least 20 hours per week.
Up to four weeks of paid time off per year based on weekly scheduled hours.
Up to 14 company-paid holidays.
Depending on role type and job level, employees may be eligible for benefits and bonuses based on individual contributions or company results; amounts and eligibility are not guaranteed and may change or be canceled.