Senior Spacecraft Operations Engineer I

Rocket Lab Corporation•Long Beach, CA

5d•Onsite

About The Position

Based on site at Rocket Lab’s headquarters in Long Beach, CA the Senior Spacecraft Operations Engineer I is responsible for managing the health, safety, and performance of a growing fleet of satellites to meet mission objectives for commercial and government customers. This role involves supporting various mission phases, including commissioning, orbit raising, routine operations, and re-entry, across diverse mission types such as satellite constellations, interplanetary exploration, and orbital rendezvous. The position requires close collaboration with cross-functional teams, including spacecraft design, software, propulsion, and ground systems, to enhance satellite and ground-based capabilities. The space operations experience at Rocket Lab is unique because you will cover a multitude of roles/positions and responsibilities, with the large majority of the technical products being supplied through the vertical integration/in-house.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in engineering (software, computer, electrical, aerospace, mechanical, or other technical engineering discipline)
5+ years of direct experience in any of the following: space mission design, satellite subsystems, ground systems, spacecraft command control or spacecraft operations
Understanding of key spacecraft subsystems and their associated components, including attitude determination and control, spacecraft electrical power systems, space-ground communications, on-orbit command and data handling, and thermal control
Understanding of the space environment, orbital mechanics, and rigid body dynamics
Software development experience (Python/Ruby/C/C++/other high-level languages)
U.S. citizenship required due to program requirements

Nice To Haves

Master’s or PhD engineering in engineering (software, computer, electrical, aerospace, mechanical, or other technical engineering discipline)
Prior experience in spacecraft operations
Prior experience in satellite system design
Prior experience in satellite ground systems
Exposure to modern development practices – GIT, CI/CD, cloud infrastructure
Software-in-the-Loop (SIL) Testing: Exposure to testing frameworks that simulate software behavior in operational environments
Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) Testing: Familiarity with testing frameworks that integrate software and hardware systems
TS/SCI Clearance

Responsibilities

Leverage automation as a key enabler to operate spacecraft, focusing on software-driven solutions for efficient and reliable mission execution
Design, develop and test ground software for long term space operations: ground scripting for robust and automated ops
Design, develop and test flight software sequences and FDIR/telemetry configuration to ensure spacecraft health and fault management through software-driven processes
Maintain the continuous integration and testing of our operational code
Ensure the on-call or shifts of operations
Develop test methods and data analysis
Develop interface specifications, CONOPS, and other design documents
Run validation against spacecraft simulation tools: flatsat, HITL, etc.
Support AIT teams across multiple spacecraft integrated tests (TVAC, propulsion stack, DITL)
Perform requirements validation and verification for subsystems and spacecraft missions
Generate and maintain requirements for spacecraft Missions including the creation and disposition
Provide program and product support to team leads and program managers and be a key technical interface between the Auckland, NZ, Littleton, CO, and Long Beach, CA USA engineering teams