Senior Flight Dynamics Software Engineer, Mission Planning Platform

Muon Space•San Jose, CA

4d•$213,000 - $237,000

About The Position

Muon seeks a Senior Flight Dynamics Software Engineer to join our Mission Planning Platform team and help lead the buildout of our flight dynamics capability. Partnering with our flight dynamics lead, you will own major workstreams end-to-end — from architecture through production deployment and operations — across orbit determination, maneuver planning, and constellation-scale automation. You'll also help grow the team by mentoring earlier-career engineers and representing flight dynamics in cross-team technical forums.

Requirements

B.S. or higher in aerospace engineering, astrodynamics, physics, applied math, or related field (M.S. preferred).
5+ years of experience in flight dynamics software development and operations.
Direct, hands-on experience planning, executing, and reconstructing propulsive maneuvers for operational LEO spacecraft.
Strong proficiency in C++ and Python, with a track record of production-level contributions in both.
Solid grounding in flight dynamics fundamentals: orbital mechanics, propagation, orbit determination, maneuver design.
Demonstrated ability to lead technical work across functional boundaries and communicate clearly with non-FD stakeholders (GNC, Systems, Operations, external vendors).
Ability to translate first-principles analysis into production-level code.
Familiarity with modern software engineering practices (version control, code review, automated testing) in a Linux-based environment.
Comfortable working in a fast-paced environment with evolving priorities.
This position requires access to export controlled information. To conform to U.S. Government export regulations applicable to that information, applicant must either be (A) a U.S. person, defined as a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (green card holder), (iii) refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, (B) eligible to access the export controlled information without a required export authorization, or (C) eligible and reasonably likely to obtain the required export authorization from the applicable U.S. government agency. The Company may, for legitimate business reasons, decline to pursue any export licensing process.

Nice To Haves

Hands-on experience implementing and operating OD systems, including practical familiarity with filter tuning, residual analysis, and dynamics model calibration.
Experience with astrodynamics software, either open-source (e.g., GMAT, Orekit) or commercial (e.g., Ansys STK/ODTK, FreeFlyer).
Experience taking a spacecraft from LEOP through steady-state operations.
Experience with conjunction assessment / collision avoidance workflows.
Experience with scheduling or constrained optimization problems (e.g., pass scheduling, contact planning).
Experience with cloud-based services or ground software systems.

Responsibilities

Own major MuFDS (Muon’s in-house flight dynamics system) workstreams end-to-end (architecture, implementation, validation, and operational rollout) across areas such as automated maneuver planning, stationkeeping and collision avoidance, and maneuver reconstruction.
Drive architecture and design decisions for flight dynamics capabilities that span team boundaries.
Support on-orbit propulsion operations, including commissioning campaigns and routine maneuvers, in coordination with propulsion vendors and subcontractors.
Lead operational response for orbit determination and maneuver-related anomalies, including deep-dive root-cause investigations and follow-on system improvements.
Represent flight dynamics in mission readiness reviews, cross-team design reviews, and interactions with external partners.
Evolve Muon's OD pipeline toward more advanced and robust methods (e.g. statistical filtering, factor graph methods, improved dynamics modeling).
Mentor earlier-career engineers on flight dynamics fundamentals, software craftsmanship, and Muon's ground systems.