Sr Systems Modelling Engineer - Space Safety & sustainability

BLUE ORIGIN • Seattle, WA

10d • $145,188 - $203,263

About The Position

At Blue Origin, we envision millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth. We’re working to develop reusable, safe, and low-cost space vehicles and systems within a culture of safety, collaboration, and inclusion. Join our team of problem solvers as we add new chapters to the history of spaceflight! Blue Origin is pioneering the future of space-based communications with TeraWave, a revolutionary satellite communications network designed to deliver symmetrical data speeds of up to 6 Tbps anywhere on Earth. This multi-orbit constellation will consist of optically interconnected satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) and medium Earth orbit (MEO), providing enterprise-grade connectivity for critical operations worldwide. As a member of the Integrated System Modelling team within the TeraWave Chief Systems Architecture office, you will develop, own, and maintain the analytical models that underpin TeraWave's space safety and sustainability posture. Your models will directly inform architecture decisions on debris mitigation, collision avoidance, post-mission disposal, and demise compliance — translating regulatory requirements and physical environments into quantitative predictions that drive design. This is a hands-on modelling and analysis role. You will build and maintain the integrated models — in MATLAB, Python, and purpose-built tools — that produce the quantitative basis for TeraWave's space safety commitments. Your work will feed directly into regulatory filings, architecture trade studies, and design requirements across spacecraft, propulsion, power, and operations teams. You will work within the Integrated System Model framework alongside engineers modelling power, communications, and orbital performance, ensuring that space safety analysis is tightly coupled to the broader system picture rather than developed in isolation. As part of this team, you will also contribute to the broader modelling of TeraWave’s constellation performance — including its ability to maintain consistent customer service through progressive deployment phases, satellite failures, and orbital manoeuvres — bringing the space environment perspective into system-level figures of merit and ensuring that safety and sustainability trades are evaluated in the context of their impact on network capability. Successful candidates will bring strong analytical foundations in orbital debris environment modelling, spacecraft survivability and demise analysis, and collision probability assessment, combined with the software development skills to build maintainable, validated, and accessible models that the broader team can use and trust. If you share our passion for leaving space better than we found it, thrive in a dynamic startup environment, excel on integrated cross-functional teams of individuals, are experienced and skilled in several relevant areas listed below, continuously seek out opportunities to learn and improve, and do not allow title or job description to limit the depth or breadth of your contributions, then we would love to hear from you.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering, astrodynamics, physics, mechanical engineering, or equivalent technical field; master's degree preferred.
• 5+ years of experience in orbital debris analysis, spacecraft survivability, collision avoidance, or closely related technical disciplines, with demonstrated hands-on modelling and analysis experience.
• Proficiency in MATLAB and/or Python for scientific computing, with demonstrated ability to develop, validate, and maintain engineering analysis tools not merely use existing ones.
• Working knowledge of the MMOD environment including debris population models (e.g., ORDEM), and experience applying them to spacecraft risk assessment.
• Familiarity with re-entry demise analysis methodology and tools (e.g., DASor equivalent), including aerothermal modelling of spacecraft breakup and ground casualty risk estimation.
• Working knowledge of conjunction assessment and collision probability calculation methods, including understanding of covariance-based Pc estimation, miss distance statistics, and screening methodologies.
• Ability to clearly document modelling methodology, assumptions, and results in written reports suitable for regulatory submission and cross-team consumption.
• Ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced, dynamic work environment.

Nice To Haves

• Master's or Ph.D. in aerospace engineering, astrodynamics, or a closely related field with thesis work relevant to orbital debris, spacecraft survivability, or space traffic management.
• 8+ years of experience spanning multiple areas of space safety analysis including MMOD, demise, collision avoidance, and long-term debris environment modelling.
• Experience with large-scale LEO constellation programs and the unique analytical challenges they present including fleet-level collision risk aggregation, intra-constellation conjunction management, and disposal reliability analysis across thousands of satellites.
• Experience with Monte Carlo simulation techniques for uncertainty quantification in orbital mechanics and debris analysis.
• Familiarity with space surveillance data products and commercial space situational awareness (SSA) services.
• Experience developing automated analysis pipelines and integrating models into larger simulation frameworks.
• Knowledge of spacecraft design considerations relevant to debris mitigationincluding shielding design, tank and battery protection strategies, and design-for-demise principles.
• Experience with hypervelocity impact testing data, ballistic limit equations, or empirical MMOD damage models.
• Familiarity with version control (Git), collaborative development practices, and software engineering principles as applied to engineering analysis tools.

Responsibilities

• Develop, own, and maintain MMOD environment and impact risk models for the TeraWave constellation, including flux characterization at operational altitudes, impact probability estimation for spacecraft surfaces and critical components, and shielding effectiveness assessment to inform vehicle design requirements.
• Develop and maintain demise and re-entry survivability models, including aerothermal breakup analysis, ground casualty risk estimation, and compliance assessment against demisability requirements.
• Develop collision probability models and conjunction assessment analysis tools.
• Build and maintain validated analytical tools in MATLAB and/or Python that are version-controlled, documented, and accessible to the broader engineering team, ensuring reproducibility of results and enabling rapid trade studies as the design evolves.
• Perform MMOD-driven failure mode analysis for critical spacecraft systems particularly batteries, propellant tanks, and pressurized systems quantifying the probability of energetic debris-generating failures and informing shielding, placement, and passivization design decisions.
• Support the adherence to TeraWave's orbital debris mitigation plans by providing the underlying analytical results, model descriptions, and compliance assessments required by these documents.
• Integrate space safety models within the broader Integrated System Model, ensuring that debris environment assumptions, collision risk results, and demise predictions are consistent with and coupled to the system-level orbital mechanics, power, thermal, and mission timeline models.
• Perform trade studies quantifying the space safety implications of constellation design choices including orbital altitude and inclination selection, spacecraft geometry and materials, disposal orbit strategies, and operational concepts providing model-backed recommendations to inform architecture decisions.
• Develop and maintain space traffic density and long-term debris environment models relevant to TeraWave's orbital regime, including assessment of the constellation's own contribution to the debris environment and the evolving background population.
• Collaborate with spacecraft, propulsion, power, thermal, and GNC teams to translate model outputs into actionable design requirements and to incorporate design updates back into models as the vehicle matures.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, basic and supplemental life insurance, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability, 401(k) with a company match of up to 5%, and an Education Support Program.
• Stock Options for all regular employees (working at least 20 hours/week)
• Paid Time Off: Up to four (4) weeks per year based on weekly scheduled hours, and up to 14 company-paid holidays.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior