Deep Space Mission Design Engineer III

BLUE ORIGIN•Denver, CO

2d•$119,814 - $167,739

About The Position

Blue Origin’s In-Space Systems business unit operates spacecraft across demanding spaceflight regimes, including geostationary orbit, cislunar space, and interplanetary destinations. As part of Blue National Security, this role supports the design, development, and delivery of launch and spacecraft systems for national security missions, including Blue Ring. The engineer joins the Astrodynamics and Trajectory Execution (ATX) team, which owns end-to-end trajectory design and ground navigation. The team is building deep-space mission design capabilities for missions to the Moon and Mars using high-thrust and low-thrust propulsion. This hands-on position independently owns significant portions of mission design across analysis, software development, and live flight operations. The engineer drives mission design from requirements and reviews through rehearsals and operations; designs trajectories and maneuvers; contributes to mission timelines, launch targets, delta-V budgets, and performance analysis; develops algorithms and tools; and automates workflows. The role collaborates across engineering and operations teams, represents mission design in reviews, and mentors junior designers. The position is primarily tailored to deep-space mission design for civil missions in Mars and cislunar space. Candidates with a security clearance may have opportunities to contribute across the broader range of ATX mission work. Applicants must meet the stated U.S. citizenship, permanent residency, refugee, or asylum eligibility requirements. A background check is required for all positions, with additional checks or credentials applicable to certain job profiles.

Requirements

M.S. in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field with at least 5 years of relevant experience, or a Ph.D. with at least 3 years of relevant experience.
Strong working knowledge of astrodynamics and orbital mechanics, with demonstrated experience designing spacecraft trajectories and high-thrust maneuvers, including impulsive maneuver design and targeting.
Demonstrated experience applying low-thrust trajectory optimization through research, mission studies, or flight projects, using methods such as optimal control theory, direct and indirect methods, multiple shooting, or nonlinear programming.
Proficiency in at least one of Python, Julia, or C++, with experience developing and testing analysis or operational software.
Applied experience with trajectory design tools such as Monte, Copernicus, EMTG, FreeFlyer, GMAT, or STK/Astrogator.
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 designing cislunar or interplanetary trajectories, including multi-body dynamics, libration point orbits, lunar orbits, or planetary capture.
Experience designing interplanetary low-thrust transfers or many-revolution spirals on a flight project in formulation, development, or operations.
Applied experience in the Monte toolkit, including integrating algorithms into operational flight dynamics software.
Experience with trajectory dispersion analysis, Monte Carlo methods, and statistical maneuver analysis.
End-to-end mission lifecycle experience (SRR, PDR, CDR, ORR, rehearsals), including live maneuver operations during mission-critical events, ideally on a deep-space mission.
Experience owning a mission design product for a mission phase, such as launch targets, a maneuver plan, or an 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 design through mission-level requirements, gated reviews, mission rehearsals, and flight operations; author trajectory design reports, maneuver plans, and operations procedures.
Design and optimize high-thrust and low-thrust trajectories, including lunar transfers, libration point and multi-body orbits, lunar frozen and low lunar orbits, interplanetary cruise, planetary capture, low-thrust interplanetary transfers, and many-revolution spirals, accounting for tracking geometry and navigation performance.
Design deterministic, trajectory correction, statistical, orbit insertion, and station-keeping maneuvers from launch through end of mission.
Perform live maneuver operations, make maneuver-readiness recommendations under real-time constraints, and work with navigators to incorporate orbit determination solutions into targeting and assess burn performance.
Determine launch periods and deliver daily launch targets through the launch vehicle interface control document; own trajectory-driven timelines that anchor mission CONOPS.
Maintain deterministic, statistical, and margin delta-V allocations across high-thrust and low-thrust phases to support feasible mission architectures.
Lead trajectory contributions to performance analysis cycles that verify and validate mission requirements, using ATX’s AWS-powered Monte Carlo capability.
Develop and test trajectory and maneuver algorithms in Python, Julia, and Monte, and partner with the flight dynamics software architect to integrate them into ATX’s Monte-based flight dynamics system.
Automate trajectory design, maneuver planning, and analysis workflows, including through generative AI.
Collaborate with ATX, propulsion, systems engineering, flight operations, and launch provider teams.
Represent mission design in reviews and mentor junior mission designers.
Scope, estimate, and plan work in deliverable increments using tools such as Jira and git.

Benefits

Medical insurance
Dental insurance
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 regular employees working at least 20 hours per week
Paid time off of up to four weeks 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 other company factors; amounts and eligibility are not guaranteed.