Radar Operator

Radar Operator

Date:
Dec 17, 2025

Location:

Lexington, MA, US

Company: MIT Lincoln Laboratory

The nation's satellites perform important civil, scientific, and national defense functions such as navigation, communications, weather forecasting, astronomical observations, and surveillance. As space becomes increasingly congested and contested, maintaining awareness of all man-made objects around the Earth is critical for ensuring the safe and effective operation of U.S. satellites. Our researchers are collecting data from a global network of ground-based and space-based sensors to help both military and civil organizations track objects in space, monitor potential threats, and protect critical national assets.

We leverage advanced data processing capabilities that rapidly ingest observations from the Space Surveillance Network and integrate that data to generate an accurate picture of the space environment around the Earth and to make predictions about evolving activity in space. We work closely with organizations such as the United States Space Force in order to maintain situational awareness in the space domain and to respond to rapidly changing events in space.

The Information Integration and Decision Support Group is seeking a Radar Operator at the Specialist level to work with a team to operate the LSSC radars. The Radar Operator will support the LSSC site on all aspects of radar console operations in support of its Space Situational Awareness (SSA) and space control mission area. This includes providing radar operational support on all new launches (foreign and domestic), monitoring resident space objects (RSO) for payload status, identifying and reporting changes in RSO status in the various orbital regimes, and supporting NASA and the Space Force in the mission area of orbital debris monitoring.

This position requires close coordination with several sponsors to include the 18th Space Defense Squadron and Combined Space Operations Center. The position requires off-hours operational support and weekly rotating shift work, to include nights, weekends, and holidays as needed.

The Radar Operator will operate the Millstone, HUSIR and HAX radars at LSSC or at the LSSAC to track satellites and carry out data acquisition according to customer needs. Responsibilities will include collection of space data as tasked; initialization and shutdown of radar systems, including high‑voltage transmitter components; perform initial analysis of collected data to verify that the radar is operating correctly;

monitor communications links for tasking and other mission information; be cognizant of and take appropriate action on equipment problems; interact with radar engineers, technicians, IT professionals, and the LSSC Site Manager or his representative to ensure optimum system performance; and communicate with external customers in response to special data collection requests, and to convey changes in sensor status.

• Associate Degree or equivalent and 4-6 years' experience in radar operations is desired.
• Knowledge of orbital mechanics highly desirable.
• Requires fluency with Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• Candidates must have strong communications skills, and the ability to work alone or in small teams.
• This position involves weekly rotating shift work and weekend hours.
• Candidates must be willing and able to work all shifts and to work at both at the Lexington and Westford locations as needed; and must have the flexibility to adapt to short‑notice schedule changes and rapidly changing mission tempos.

• Experience with UNIX/Linux user applications and MATLAB is a plus.

Hiring Range: $87,700-$121,000

Disclaimer: MIT Lincoln Laboratory provides a typical hiring range as a good faith estimate of what we reasonably expect to offer for this position at the time of posting. The final salary offered to a selected candidate will depend on various factors, including but not limited to the scope and responsibilities of the role, the candidate's experience, skills and education/training, internal equity considerations and applicable legal requirements.

This range reflects base…