Senior Mission Design and Navigation Engineer Verified today
About the Role
As a Mission Design and Navigation Engineer in the Interplanetary Sciences Program, you will perform mission design activities for the 2028 Mars Orbiter mission. You will conduct trajectory and navigation analyses that define how the spacecraft travels to Mars and achieves the orbital conditions required for its science mission.
As the program progresses toward flight, your responsibilities will expand into end-to-end ownership of mission design and navigation, including interplanetary trajectory design, Mars orbit design, orbit determination, navigation data processing, and interfaces with the Deep Space Network (DSN).
You will develop the engineering practices, processes, tools, interfaces, and software requirements needed to support mission design and flight navigation. You will work across spacecraft systems, GNC, communications, mission operations, and software teams to ensure the mission can be designed, navigated, and operated successfully from launch through Mars orbital operations.
Key Responsibilities
- Own mission design and associated trajectory analysis for the 2028 Mars Orbiter mission
- Develop and optimize interplanetary trajectories and Mars orbital trajectories subject to spacecraft, communications, operations, and science constraints
- Grow into technical ownership of flight navigation, including orbit determination, trajectory estimation, maneuver analysis, and navigation data processing
- Define requirements, interfaces, and methods for processing DSN radiometric tracking measurements, including Doppler, range, and Delta-DOR
- Serve as the primary navigation interface between the Interplanetary Sciences Program and the Deep Space Network
- Develop and maintain mission design and navigation tools, software requirements, architectures, and analysis capabilities
- Act as an authority for Mission Design and Navigation, working across GNC, spacecraft systems, communications, software, and mission operations
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Astronautical/Aeronautical Engineering, Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, or similar technical discipline with 5+ years of related experience
- Experience in spacecraft mission design, astrodynamics, flight navigation, orbit determination, or mission design and navigation software development
- Strong understanding of orbital mechanics, trajectory analysis, and the engineering methods used to design and navigate spacecraft missions
- Experience with radiometric navigation and orbital determination
- Ability to work across disciplines and clearly communicate technical decisions, requirements, and tradeoffs to engineering stakeholders
- Experience working with software developers to define requirements and architectures for engineering or mission-critical software systems
- Software development experience in Python, MATLAB, or similar
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with MONTE mission design and navigation software and tools
- Experience supporting interplanetary or deep-space missions
- Experience with the Deep Space Network
- Experience processing or analyzing DSN tracking measurements, including Doppler, Range, and Delta-DOR
- Experience with flight navigation operations, maneuver design and analysis, or orbit determination
- Familiarity with DSN systems, interfaces, documentation, and navigation data products
- Familiarity with software and systems configuration management in a mission-critical environment
Compensation
Hiring range: $148,000 to $222,000 USD. Actual compensation determined based on experience, qualifications, and other job-related factors.
Relativity Space offers competitive salary and equity, generous PTO and sick leave, parental leave, and an annual learning and development stipend.