Mission Design Engineer (2-5 yrs)

Advanced Space•Westminster, CO

5d•$88,000 - $116,000•Hybrid

About The Position

At Advanced Space, we're enabling humanity's return to the Moon and building the technologies that will take us to Mars and beyond. We're looking for a Mission Design Engineer with 2-5 years of experience to apply astrodynamics expertise and creative problem-solving to some of the most ambitious missions in the space industry. This is a hands-on technical role supporting mission design and trajectory analysis across Earth-orbiting, cislunar, and interplanetary missions. You'll contribute throughout the full mission lifecycle—from mission architecture and trajectory optimization to concept of operations development, contingency planning, and flight operations support. We're looking for someone who thrives in technically challenging environments, enjoys solving complex astrodynamics problems, and is excited to work alongside a team that's delivering real missions—not just concepts. This position is open to U.S. Persons (U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents) only. Visa sponsorship is not available.

Requirements

B.S. in Aerospace Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related field.
2–5 years of professional experience in mission design, astrodynamics, trajectory design, or a closely related discipline.
Experience applying mission design and trajectory optimization concepts to real-world aerospace problems.
Experience with astrodynamics software such as MONTE, Copernicus, GMAT, STK, FreeFlyer, or similar tools.
Can write Python, Matlab, Julia, or similar scripts to solve mission design and analysis problems and contribute to complex codebases.
Enjoy solving difficult technical problems and are comfortable working through ambiguous challenges.
Communicate technical concepts clearly and can collaborate effectively across engineering disciplines.
Take ownership of your work and proactively solve problems when you see them.

Nice To Haves

Supporting spacecraft operations procedures and maneuver design activities during flight operations.
Understanding spacecraft navigation concepts and how navigation interacts with mission design analyses.
Supporting systems integration and verification analyses.
Familiarity with spacecraft subsystems and how they interface with trajectory design.
Developing generalized astrodynamics tools using Python and/or Julia.
Experience supporting system-level design reviews such as SRR, PDR, or CDR.
Experience with formation flying, stationkeeping, or proximity operations.
Using agentic AI tools to support code development, documentation, and testing while maintaining technical accuracy.

Responsibilities

Design mission architectures and optimize trajectories.
Apply mission design and trajectory optimization expertise across a variety of mission domains, including Earth-orbiting, cislunar, interplanetary, high-thrust, low-thrust, formation-flying, and proximity operations missions.
Solve complex astrodynamics challenges.
Perform mission design analyses including delta-V budgeting, trajectory optimization, Monte Carlo/statistical-delta-V simulations, stationkeeping analysis, and formation-keeping algorithm development.
Support missions from concept through operations.
Take ownership of mission phases and work alongside technical leads to define analysis approaches, break down complex problems, and deliver accurate technical solutions that support mission success.
Develop tools that enable future missions.
Build and improve astrodynamics software and flight operations tools using programming languages such as Python and Julia. Apply innovative approaches to expand Advanced Space's mission design capabilities.
Collaborate across engineering disciplines.
Partner with navigation, systems, GNC, flight software, and other engineering teams to define requirements, support verification efforts, and integrate mission design analyses across the spacecraft system.
Communicate technical solutions clearly.
Document and present design and analysis results for internal teams and customers. Translate complex technical concepts into clear recommendations and actionable insights.
Continue learning and push technical boundaries.
Stay current with aerospace research, publications, and emerging technologies to solve challenging problems and develop new approaches to mission design.