Senior Flight Dynamics Engineer - Lunar (R39125)

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 diverse team of problem solvers as we add new chapters to the history of spaceflight!  

This role is part of the Lunar Permanence business unit, which develops Blue Origin’s multiple Blue Moon lander product lines. To further Blue Origin's mission of having millions of people living and working in space, we are building sustainable infrastructure for our transport of crew and cargo from Earth to the lunar surface. 

As part of a diverse and hardworking team of engineers, you will join our Mission Design and Ground Navigation team within the Guidance, Navigation, and Controls (GN&C) IPT. You will share in the team’s impact on all aspects of the trajectory for spacecraft from Earth to the Moon!  

Expect to be a technical contributor to one or more programs within the Lunar Permanence business unit. You will develop orbit determination software, implement flight dynamics systems, and mature trajectory design capabilities. Additionally, you will develop operational timelines, implement flight dynamics operational tests, and interface with the Mission Planning group. You will perform trajectory design and dispersion analysis using both commercial and custom tools. 

You will be responsible for exemplifying best practices, balanced technical judgment, and superior work ethic in a time-constrained environment. 

We are looking for someone to apply their technical expertise, leadership skills, and commitment to quality to positively impact safe human spaceflight. Passion for our mission and vision is required!

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Develop flight dynamics operational software 
• Support verification and validation of flight dynamics operational software 
• Collaborate with the Mission Operations and Mission Planning teams to define trajectory and vehicle interfaces 
• Analyze dispersed trajectories and delta-v budgets  
• Support ground-based satellite navigation and orbit determination analysis
• Conduct analyses and trades to validate mission requirements 
• Present results and support gated reviews
• Support live mission operations 

Minimum Qualifications:

• S. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related fields 
• 6+ years of proven experience focused on trajectory analysis, flight dynamics, or mission design 
• Demonstrated knowledge of the mission design lifecycle from conceptualization through operational flight 
• Strong fundamentals in orbital mechanics and astrodynamics  
• Understanding of ground-based satellite navigation and statistical orbit determination 
• Applied experience in mission design and trajectory optimization tools such as Monte, Copernicus, EMTG, STK/ODTK, FreeFlyer, or GMAT 
• Applied experience in developing trajectory or flight dynamics software 
• Experience in at least one of the following languages: Julia, Python, C++, or MATLAB 
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills 
• Ability to earn trust, maintain positive and professional relationships, and contribute to a culture of inclusion 
• Must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum

Preferred Qualifications:

• S. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related fields 
• 8+ years of proven experience focused on trajectory analysis, flight dynamics, or mission design 
• Applied expertise in the ground-based satellite navigation and statistical orbit determination processes 
• Experience using the Monte software package  
• Experience developing system requirements 
• Experience performing spacecraft operations 
• Experience in development of spacecraft through the full engineering life cycle 
• Experience defining, planning, and documenting ConOps for spacecraft missions  
• Experience working on and effectively communicating with a distributed team 
• System engineering and configuration management skills 
• Experience with DevOps processes including configuration control, continuous development and deployment workflows, Agile methodologies, software code review
• Previous experience with software development tooling such as Jira, git, Jenkins, Docker and at least one IDE

 

Inclusivity Statement

Don’t meet all desired requirements? Studies have shown that some people are less l