Mission Design and Ground Navigation Engineer

Application close date:

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

As part of a hardworking team of engineers, you will join our Mission Design and Ground Navigation team within the Mission Operations System 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 the Blue Moon program within the Lunar Permanence business unit. You will develop reference trajectories, perform ground navigation analysis, and support integrated vehicle trade studies. Additionally, you will perform dispersed trajectory analysis and develop off-nominal concept of operations.

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:

• Design Earth-to-Moon trajectories
• Design Rendezvous, Proximity Operations, and Docking trajectories
• Analyze dispersed trajectories and delta-v budgets
• Support ground-based navigation and orbit determination analysis
• Conduct analyses and trades to validate mission requirements
• Develop flight dynamics operational software
• Present results and support gated reviews

Minimum Qualifications:

• B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related fields
• 5+ years of proven experience focused on trajectory analysis, flight dynamics, or mission design
• Strong fundamentals in orbital mechanics and astrodynamics
• Applied experience in the mission design lifecycle from conceptualization through operational flight
• Understanding of ground-based navigation and statistical orbit determination
• Significant applied experience in one or more mission design and trajectory optimization tools, such as Monte, Copernicus, EMTG, STK/ODTK, Free Flyer, or GMAT
• Applied experience in one or more of the following languages:
  Julia, Python, C++, Rust, or MATLAB
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills

Preferred Qualifications:

• M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related fields
• 7+ years of proven experience focused on trajectory analysis, flight dynamics, or mission design
• Demonstrated expertise in the ground-based navigation and statistical orbit determination processes
• Demonstrated expertise in trajectory optimization
• Experience analyzing Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit
• Experience using the Monte software package
• Experience performing spacecraft operations (e.g. navigation support, maneuver planning, or real0time anomaly resolution)
• Experience with Dev Ops processes including configuration control, continuous development and deployment workflows, Agile methodologies, and software code review.
• Experience with software development tooling such as Jira, git, Jenkins, Docker, Visual Studio, or VSCode

Compensation Range for:

Other site ranges may differ

Culture Statement

Don't meet all desired requirements? Studies have shown that some people are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single desired qualification. At Blue Origin, we are dedicated to building an authentic workplace, so if you're excited about this role but your past experience doesn't align perfectly with every desired qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway.

You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Export Control Regulations

Applicants for employment at Blue Origin must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (i.e. current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S.as a refugee or granted asylum.

Background Check

• Required for all positions:
  Blue's Standard Background Check

• Required for Certain Job Profiles:
  Defense Biometric Identification System (DBIDS) background check if at any time the role requires one to be on a military installation

• Required for Certain Job Profiles:
  Drivers who operate Commercial Motor Vehicles with a Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW), Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) or combination of power unit and trailer that meets or exceeds 10,001 lbs. and/or…