Deep Space Mission Design Engineer III Verified today

Your Impact

• Own Lifecycle Mission Design: Drive mission design through mission-level requirements, gated reviews, mission rehearsals, and flight operations. Author trajectory design reports, maneuver plans, and operations procedures.
• Design and Optimize Trajectories: Design and optimize high-thrust and low-thrust trajectories, including lunar transfers, libration point and multi-body orbits, lunar frozen and low lunar orbits, interplanetary cruise, planetary capture, interplanetary low-thrust transfers, and many-revolution spirals, accounting for tracking geometry and navigation performance.
• Fly Deep Space Missions: Design deterministic, trajectory correction, statistical, orbit insertion, and station-keeping maneuvers from launch through end of mission. Perform live maneuver operations, making maneuver-readiness recommendations under real-time constraints, and partner with navigators to incorporate orbit determination solutions into targeting and assess burn performance.
• Define Launch Periods and Mission Timelines: Determine launch periods and deliver daily launch targets through the launch vehicle interface control document. Own the trajectory-driven timelines that anchor mission CONOPS.
• Own Delta-V Budgets and Mission Performance: Maintain deterministic, statistical, and margin delta-v allocations across high-thrust and low-thrust phases that result in feasible mission architectures. Lead trajectory contributions to performance analysis cycles using ATX's AWS-powered Monte Carlo capability.
• Develop Maneuver Algorithms and Tools: Develop and test trajectory and maneuver algorithms in Python, Julia, and Monte. Partner with the flight dynamics software architect to infuse them into ATX's Monte-based flight dynamics system.
• Drive Automation: Automate trajectory design, maneuver planning, and analysis workflows as ATX scales toward fleet-level operations, including through generative AI.
• Collaborate and Grow the Team: Work with ATX, propulsion, systems engineering, flight operations, and launch provider teams. Represent mission design in reviews, and mentor junior mission designers.
• Deliver with Agile Discipline: Scope, estimate, and plan work in deliverable increments, using tools such as Jira and git.

Minimum Qualifications

• M.S. in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field with 5+ years of relevant experience, or a Ph.D. with 3+ years of relevant experience.
• Strong working knowledge of astrodynamics and orbital mechanics, with demonstrated experience designing spacecraft trajectories and high-thrust maneuvers, including impulsive maneuver design and targeting.
• Demonstrated experience applying low-thrust trajectory optimization through research, mission studies, or flight projects, using methods such as optimal control theory, direct and indirect methods, multiple shooting, or nonlinear programming.
• Proficiency in at least one of Python, Julia, or C++, with experience developing and testing analysis or operational software.
• Applied experience with trajectory design tools such as Monte, Copernicus, EMTG, FreeFlyer, GMAT, or STK/Astrogator.
• Experience supporting spacecraft mission operations, mission rehearsals, or comparable time-critical operational environments.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently, scope ambiguous technical problems, and deliver results with minimal oversight.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including presenting technical results in design reviews and authoring technical documentation.
• 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, or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum.

Preferred Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
• Experience designing cislunar or interplanetary trajectories, including multi-body dynamics, libration point orbits, lunar orbits, or planetary capture.
• Experience designing interplanetary low-thrust transfers or many-revolution spirals on a flight project in formulation, development, or operations.
• Applied experience in the Monte toolkit, including infusing algorithms into operational flight dynamics software.
• Experience with trajectory dispersion analysis, Monte Carlo methods, and statistical maneuver analysis.
• End-to-end mission lifecycle experience (SRR, PDR, CDR, ORR, rehearsals), including live maneuver operations during mission-critical events, ideally on a deep-space mission.
• Experience owning a mission design product for a mission phase, such as launch targets, a maneuver plan, or an operations procedure.
• Experience mentoring engineers and communicating effectively across a distributed team.
• Experience with DevOps practices and tooling, including configuration control, CI/CD, code review, Jira, git, Docker, Terraform, and Ansible.
• Experience using generative AI tools to expedite and automate your workflow.
• Current TS/SCI clearance with polygraph, or willingness to obtain and maintain one.

Compensation and Benefits

Base pay range for CO applicants: $119,814.00 - $167,738.55

Benefits include: Medical, dental, vision, basic and supplemental life insurance, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability, 401(k) with company match of up to 5%, education support program, stock options for regular employees, and up to 4 weeks paid time off per year plus 14 company-paid holidays.

About This Role

You will join the Astrodynamics and Trajectory Execution (ATX) team within Blue Origin's In-Space Systems business unit. ATX is responsible for end-to-end trajectory design and ground navigation. The team is growing to fly missions to the Moon and Mars using high-thrust and low-thrust propulsion. In this hands-on role, you will independently own significant portions of the mission design process for entire missions, spanning analysis, software development, and live flight operations.

This role is part of Blue National Security and operates across demanding regimes in spaceflight, from geostationary orbit to cislunar space and interplanetary destinations, using Blue Ring, our multi-mission spacecraft with hybrid solar-electric and chemical propulsion.