Senior Flight Dynamics Engineer, Orbits R&D

Planet

89d • $127,000 - $180,600

About The Position

As a Senior Flight Dynamics Engineer, you will work on a small team of dedicated engineers responsible for the Flight Dynamics and Mission Planning for Planet’s fleet of satellites. The Flight Dynamics disciplines of this team include mission design, orbit determination, maneuver design and execution (with propulsion and differential-drag), and conjunction assessment & mitigation. Mission Planning is concerned with optimal scheduling of imaging and contacts for Planet’s Dove, SkySat, Pelican, and Tanager constellations. This operations research problem has a direct impact on fulfilling the business needs for the world’s largest heterogeneous constellation of Earth Observation satellites. Your role will involve developing and automating tools to assess mission design trade-offs that will define the future of Planet's constellations.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, physics or related technical field
• 6+ years of total relevant experience
• Experience in orbital mechanics and space mission operations
• Advanced software development experience in C++ and Python
• Ability to carry out first-principles analysis and operationalize MVP solutions
• Excellent written and verbal technical communication skills

Nice To Haves

• Experience with constellation and mission design trade studies
• Experience implementing one or more of the following: Orbit determination and high-fidelity propagation, Covariance realism, Low-thrust mission design, Operations research and solving large-scale optimization problems, Maneuver automation, Constellation management, Microservice software architecture
• Experience maintaining peer-reviewed code, attention to quality including automated testing, and continuous integration and deployment

Responsibilities

• Research, design and architect new software solutions for managing Mission Design needs for Planet's increasingly diverse fleets of satellites
• Work on complex optimization problems with your knowledge of flight dynamics and software engineering
• Contribute to Planet's success by improving the operations of its existing fleets of satellites, alongside enabling future missions

Benefits

• Comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision plans
• Health Savings Account (HSA) with a company contribution
• Generous Paid Time Off in addition to holidays and company-wide days off
• 16 Weeks of Paid Parental Leave
• Wellness Program and Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Home Office Reimbursement
• Monthly Phone and Internet Reimbursement
• Tuition Reimbursement and access to LinkedIn Learning
• Equity
• Commuter Benefits (if local to an office)
• Volunteering Paid Time Off

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Bachelor's degree
• Number of Employees: 501-1,000 employees