Principal Autonomous Navigation Engineer Verified today

The Role

Blue Origin's In-Space Systems business unit is developing the Blue Ring multi-mission space vehicle for cislunar, heliocentric, and interplanetary operations. As Principal Autonomous Navigation Engineer on the Astrodynamics and Trajectory eXecution (ATX) team, you will be the technical authority for autonomous onboard navigation capabilities for lunar and Mars missions.

You will balance near-term reliance on ground-based orbit determination using radiometric measurements with long-term development of fully autonomous systems. You will define end-to-end navigation architecture, integrate optical and radiometric measurement sources, and drive design from concept through flight implementation.

What You Will Do

• Shape the autonomous navigation architecture for onboard orbit determination, integrating optical and radiometric measurements for cislunar and interplanetary missions.
• Lead development and integration of optical and radiometric measurement processing into onboard algorithms. Drive technical roadmap toward fully autonomous deep space navigation.
• Define strategy for onboard navigation capability maturation for deep space regimes with limited ground contact and drive implementation across Blue Ring.
• Contribute to ground-based orbit determination and live navigation operations for operational missions.
• Apply expertise in statistical orbit determination using radiometric and optical measurements to deliver navigation solutions for early lunar and Mars missions.
• Interface with GNC, avionics, flight software, systems engineering, and flight operations teams to ensure proper integration, hardware support, and end-to-end validation.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to navigation engineers. Establish best practices for algorithm development, testing, and verification.
• Present results and support critical design reviews using Agile development methodologies.

Minimum Qualifications

• M.S. in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related fields.
• 10+ years of proven experience in spacecraft navigation, orbit determination, or related astrodynamics disciplines.
• Demonstrated experience developing and implementing orbit determination algorithms.
• Experience with optical navigation techniques (camera calibration, optical centroiding, terrain-relative navigation, star-based navigation, landmark tracking).
• Strong fundamentals in astrodynamics, orbital mechanics, and estimation theory.
• Applied experience in navigation tools such as Monte, STK/ODTK, FreeFlyer, or GMAT.
• Experience in at least one of: Python, Julia, or C++.
• Demonstrated ability to define navigation requirements.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to earn trust, maintain positive 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

• Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related fields.
• Experience with cislunar or interplanetary mission navigation.
• Experience with radiometric navigation techniques (Doppler, ranging, VLBI, or similar).
• Experience developing or deploying autonomous/onboard navigation systems in flight.
• Experience with optical navigation in deep space approach and proximity operations.
• Experience with GNC algorithm development and flight software integration.
• Experience with maneuver planning and execution.
• Experience with rendezvous and proximity operations.
• Experience leading a navigation team through design, development, and operational deployment.
• Demonstrated knowledge of the mission design lifecycle from conceptualization through operational flight.
• Experience with DevOps processes including configuration control, continuous integration/deployment, Agile methodologies, and code review.
• Experience with software development tooling such as Jira, git, Jenkins, Docker, and at least one IDE.
• Willingness or ability to acquire Active Top Secret (TS) / Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) security clearance with Single Scope Background Investigation (SSBI) with polygraph preferred.

Compensation

Base pay range for VA applicants: $183,193.00 - $256,469.85

Base pay range for CO applicants: $173,466.00 - $242,851.35

Other site ranges may differ.

Benefits

• 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 all regular employees (working at least 20 hours/week).
• Paid time off: up to four weeks per year based on weekly scheduled hours, and up to 14 company-paid holidays.

Application close date: ongoing until requisition closed.