Senior Mission Operations Engineer

Lux Aeterna•Denver, CO

8h•Onsite

About The Position

Lux Aeterna is seeking a Senior Mission Operations Engineer to take end-to-end ownership of the Delphi-1 spacecraft, from commissioning and on-orbit operations through deorbit, reentry, recovery, and refurbishment hand-off. The role will lead mission operations planning and execution, including developing the concept of operations and procedures, conducting rehearsals, and commanding the vehicle in flight. The engineer will help establish Lux Aeterna’s mission operations function and may serve as Mission Manager or Flight Director for first-of-kind reusable-satellite flights. This position is based onsite in Denver, Colorado, with travel to vendor and partner facilities, the launch site, and recovery zone in the run-up to and during flight. The role is onsite five days per week by default, with flexibility when needed. Certain roles may involve access to export-controlled technical data; access may be limited to individuals who qualify as a U.S. person or who otherwise may lawfully receive it.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical, or Systems Engineering, or an equivalent technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
At least 5 years of aerospace experience, including at least 2 years as a Lead or Senior Mission Operations Engineer or in an equivalent role on other high-stakes hardware programs.
Direct experience in a mission operations, flight test, or launch environment, including console time, procedure authorship, or flight-director-style real-time decision-making in aerospace programs.
Hands-on experience with ground-segment or mission control center tooling, such as commanding, telemetry, mission planning, and pass scheduling; KSAT or equivalent ground-network experience.
Technical fluency, including the ability to read interface control documents, requirements, and engineering analyses, and to challenge plans when they conflict with the physics.
Excellent written communication skills for procedures, flight rules, status updates, and executive-level reporting.
Composure under pressure and sound judgment when information is incomplete.
Comfort with ambiguity and a bias toward action over analysis paralysis.
Ability to work effectively in fast build-test-iterate environments with high ownership and minimal supervision.

Nice To Haves

Experience establishing a mission operations organization from scratch, including hiring and training operators, certification, and building a Mission Operations Center.
Familiarity with reentry, recovery, or asset-return operations involving a capsule, glider, booster, or experimental vehicle.
Working knowledge of FAA Part 450, range safety, and human-spaceflight-adjacent safety standards, including SSCMAN 91-710, AFSPCMAN, and NASA standards.
Familiarity with RF, CCSDS, telemetry decommutation, and ground-station integration.
Experience at an early-stage startup or on a new program, especially in hardware or deep-tech companies.
Comfort building lightweight systems and processes that can scale without over-engineering.
Military aviation, test, or operations background.

Responsibilities

Author the Concept of Operations, console procedures, flight rules, anomaly playbooks, and mission timeline in partnership with GNC, FSW, GSW, and Avionics.
Establish the Mission Operations Center, lead rehearsals, and drive Flight Readiness and Mission Readiness Reviews.
Hire, train, and certify mission operations personnel, including console operators, flight directors, and payload operators; define the flight-support on-call rotation.
Serve as Mission Manager or Flight Director from pre-launch through on-orbit operations; make calls to proceed, hold, or abort, and coordinate in real time with KSAT, SpaceX, the range, customers, and recovery partners.
Lead the post-flight debrief and incorporate lessons learned into Delphi block upgrades and follow-on missions.
Own mission operations for a reusable spacecraft across on-orbit operations, reentry, recovery, and refurbishment hand-off.
Build the mission operations function, including CONOPs, procedures, flight rules, and the team responsible for flying the vehicle.