Mission Design Engineer

Outpost • Los Angeles, CA

16h • $150,000 - $180,000 • Onsite

About The Position

Outpost is an orbital logistics company developing reusable Earth-return vehicles for in-space manufacturing, on-orbit warehousing, and global delivery. The Mission Engineering team defines how missions operate from launch integration and on-orbit operations through deorbit, reentry, descent, and recovery. This role establishes mission design and flight safety practices, working closely with GNC, aerothermal, structures, avionics, reliability, and operations engineers and representing Outpost to the FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST).

The engineer owns flight safety analysis for reentry missions under 14 CFR Part 450, develops and maintains trajectory simulations, performs dispersion and debris analyses, and supports licensing and FAA engagement. The role also establishes mission rules and safety criteria, contributes to customer and launch-provider mission feasibility work, and builds and controls the analysis toolchain. The position is based in Playa Vista, California, and requires working on-site five days per week.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, physics, or a related field.
• At least 5 years of experience in trajectory analysis, GNC, mission design, or flight safety for launch vehicles, reentry vehicles, or spacecraft; alternatively, a master's degree with at least 4 years of experience or a PhD with at least 3 years of experience.
• Demonstrated experience developing and running atmospheric flight trajectory simulations with POST2, TRAJ, or an equivalent 3-DOF/6-DOF simulation framework.
• Demonstrated experience designing and executing Monte Carlo dispersion analyses and statistically interpreting results.
• Strong command of flight mechanics, orbital mechanics, atmospheric entry dynamics, probability, and statistics.
• Working knowledge of FAA 14 CFR Part 450 or Part 417 flight safety requirements.
• Proficiency in Python, MATLAB, or C/C++ for simulation development and data analysis.
• Clear written and verbal communication, including presenting technical results to regulators, customers, and executive leadership.
• Ability to work on-site in Playa Vista, California, five days per week.
• Must be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, a protected individual as defined by 22 C.F.R. § 120.15, or eligible to obtain required U.S. Department of State authorizations.

Nice To Haves

• Master's degree or PhD in aerospace engineering focused on GNC, astrodynamics, or hypersonics.
• Direct contribution to an FAA launch or reentry license under Part 450, including flight safety analysis submittals and FAA review cycles.
• Experience with reentry breakup and demise analysis tools such as ORSAT, DAS, DRAMA, SCARAB, or equivalent in-house tools.
• Experience with casualty and risk modeling, including population density modeling, aircraft and ship hazard analysis, and sheltering models.
• GNC background, including guidance law development, navigation filter design, or closed-loop 6-DOF simulation of entry or precision-landing vehicles.
• Experience with parafoil, parachute, or decelerator descent modeling and recovery footprint analysis.
• Experience building analysis pipelines using high-performance or cloud computing for large Monte Carlo campaigns.

Responsibilities

• Own flight safety analysis for Outpost reentry missions in accordance with 14 CFR Part 450, including trajectory, malfunction turn and failure-mode trajectory, debris, flight hazard area, and debris risk analyses.
• Demonstrate compliance with Part 450 public safety criteria for collective and individual expected casualty, aircraft hazard, and conditional expected casualty, and define required vehicle reliability and failure probability inputs.
• Develop and maintain 3-DOF and 6-DOF reentry trajectory simulations covering deorbit, atmospheric entry, descent, and terminal recovery.
• Design and execute Monte Carlo dispersion analyses across vehicle, atmospheric, navigation, and operational uncertainties; quantify landing footprints and impact probability distributions.
• Model nominal and off-nominal vehicle breakup, fragment generation, demise, and survivable debris propagation to ground and sea impact.
• Define deorbit targeting, entry corridors, recovery zones, and flight hazard areas; support coordination of NOTAMs, NOTMARs, and range airspace requests.
• Author flight safety analysis sections of FAA license applications, Means of Compliance, and pre-application consultation material; lead technical discussions with FAA-AST.
• Establish flight safety limits, mission rules, and go/no-go criteria; serve as flight safety lead during mission rehearsals and live operations.
• Collaborate with GNC, aerothermal, structures, and reliability engineers to integrate vehicle models, failure modes, and hazard analyses, including FHA and FMEA, into the flight safety case.
• Perform mission-specific trajectory and feasibility analyses for customer proposals, launch provider integration, and new business pursuits.
• Build and automate the analysis toolchain and establish verification, validation, and configuration control processes for flight safety software and data products.

Benefits

• Annual performance-based bonuses.
• Meaningful equity in Outpost.
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage; the company covers the base tier of medical insurance and all vision and dental premiums.
• Company-provided short- and long-term disability coverage and life insurance.
• Paid time off and 9 paid holidays.
• 401(k) with company match.
• Daily DoorDash lunch stipend and unlimited snacks, coffee, and tea.
• Pet-friendly office.
• Monthly company happy hours and events.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level