Flight Dynamics Engineer II

Firefly Aerospace, Inc.

Austin (TX)

On-site

USD 110,000 - 170,000

Full time

5 days ago

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Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental and vision insurance

Mental health services

Family planning stipend

Stock bonuses

401(k) matching

Dog friendly workplace

Job summary

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. in Texas is seeking a Flight Dynamics Engineer II to plan trajectories, estimate spacecraft state, and support real-time operations for LEO and cislunar missions.

You will develop software tools, model dynamics including gravity, drag, solar radiation, and collaborate across engineering teams. A strong background in orbital mechanics and Python is required.

Qualifications

Bachelor's or higher degree in aerospace engineering, physics, mathematics or related field.
2–5+ years of spacecraft flight dynamics experience.
Strong understanding of orbital mechanics and attitude dynamics.
Experience with one or more flight dynamics software tools.

Responsibilities

Plan trajectories, state vector estimation, and maneuver design for operational spacecraft.
Develop software tools to automate mission design workflows.
Model spacecraft dynamics including gravitational perturbations, drag, and solar radiation pressure.
Perform Monte Carlo simulations to assess mission robustness.
Interface with cross-discipline teams for navigation solutions and maneuver plans.
Act as flight dynamics operator for missions and analyze maneuver reconstructions.
Create data pipelines and visualization tools for real-time operations and post-flight analysis.
Validate flight dynamics models against analytical solutions and flight data.
Prepare technical documentation communicating flight dynamics concepts and results.

Skills

Orbital mechanics

Trajectory design

Python

Maneuver planning

Linux

Estimation theory

Education

Bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering, physics, mathematics

Master's degree in aerospace engineering, physics, mathematics

Tools

STK

GMAT

FreeFlyer

ODTK

Git

Job description

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Life at Firefly

At Firefly, we’re focused on making space attainable for everyone – including you! Each team member’s passion, dedication, and innovative ideas have a direct impact on fueling our successful trajectory into space. And there’s no shortage of meaningful projects to work on at Firefly. With launch, lunar, and orbital vehicles, Firefly has a diverse line of business with opportunities to get hands‑on experience launching rockets, operating in space, and landing on the Moon.

What’s hotter than a Texas summer? Our Miranda ...

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Our Values

Headquartered in the Lone Star State, Firefly’s hardworking team reflects Texas’ GO BIG culture in everything we do. We build big, achieve big, and dream big. We’re building launch vehicles and spacecraft to provide rapid, reliable space access. We’ve achieved some incredible wins, including the first successful commercial Moon landing. And we’re dreaming bigger than this planet with ambitions to Mars, Venus, and beyond. Our core values are what drive us along the way.

Passion

Fireflies believe in perseverance, responsiveness, and mentoring others with a focus on inspiring a better future.

Fireflies act with integrity and take ownership of our actions, commitments, decisions, and outcomes.

Fireflies work in alignment across teams and communicate clearly with mutual respect for one another.

Fireflies deliver high-quality work through technical rigor and timely disciplined execution for our customers.

We take care of our Fireflies with some of the best benefits in the industry. Our mission to make space for everyone starts with our employees and allowing them to make space for their family, their career, and their future.

Space for You

Unlimited PTO for exempt employees
3-month sabbatical for every 5 years of service
Medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance
Mental health services
Paid military leave
12 weeks paid maternity leave
4 weeks paid spouse leave
$20k towards family planning: fertility, surrogacy, adoption
Dog friendly workplace

Space for Your Career

$10k/year towards trade school or college
Ongoing coaching to advance leadership skills
Employee-ownership with stock bonuses
4% Safe Harbor 401(k) matching
$10k bonus for home purchase in Cedar Park, Texas

Job Openings

From launch technicians to propulsion engineers, Firefly has open roles across the company. We’re looking for passionate, bright innovators to join our team and help make space an achievable dream for everyone.

Firefly Aerospace is a space and defense technology company on a mission to reliably and repeatedly launch, land, and operate space systems from Earth to the Moon and beyond. As the partner of choice for critical space missions, Firefly is the first commercial company to launch a satellite to orbit with 24-hour notice and the first company to achieve a successful Moon landing. Headquartered in north Austin, Texas, Firefly is looking for passionate, hardworking innovators to join our team and help fuel our successful trajectory into space.

SUMMARY

As a Flight Dynamics Engineer II at Firefly, you will apply your knowledge of orbital mechanics and spacecraft dynamics to plan trajectories, develop flight dynamics software tools, and support real-time spacecraft operations for missions spanning LEO and cislunar space. In this role, you will independently execute trajectory planning, state estimation, and maneuver design tasks while collaborating with cross-functional teams to model spacecraft dynamics, validate flight dynamics solutions, and contribute to the success of missions spanning Earth orbit, cislunar space, and the lunar surface. This position combines hands‑on analysis and software development with operational support across the full spacecraft mission lifecycle.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Perform trajectory planning, state vector estimation, and maneuver design for operational spacecraft
Develop custom software tools and libraries to automate mission design and preparation workflows
Model high-fidelity spacecraft dynamics that include the effects of gravitational perturbations, atmospheric drag, solar radiation pressure, and other celestial bodies
Perform Monte Carlo simulations and error budgeting to assess mission robustness to dispersions in initial conditions, system performance, and environmental uncertainties
Interface with cross-discipline teams to provide accurate ephemerides, navigation solutions, and maneuver plans for mission planning and operations
Serve as a flight dynamics operator for spacecraft missions and perform maneuver reconstruction to improve spacecraft models
Build automated data processing pipelines and visualization tools to support real-time mission operations and post-flight analysis
Perform verification and validation of flight dynamics models and software against analytical solutions, benchmarks, flight data, and unit tests
Author technical documentation and analysis reports that communicate flight dynamics concepts and results to diverse audiences

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

Bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering, physics, mathematics, or related field
2-5 years of experience in spacecraft flight dynamics
Strong understanding of orbital mechanics theory and applications
Understanding of spacecraft attitude dynamics and control
Knowledge of targeting and optimization methods, estimation theory, and uncertainty modeling techniques
Experience in software development and modeling/simulation for spaceflight applications
Working knowledge of Python and Linux
Understanding of software development best practices including version control (Git), code documentation, and testing
Experience with one or more commercial flight dynamics software tools (STK, GMAT, FreeFlyer, ODTK, or similar)
Strong communication and presentation skills
Master's degree in aerospace engineering, physics, mathematics, or related field
Experience across multiple flight dynamics disciplines, including trajectory design, maneuver planning, and orbit determination
Experience supporting operational spacecraft missions
Advanced Python programming skills
Experience with spacecraft trajectory design using STK
Exposure to JPL's MONTE software
Familiarity with CI/CD workflows and automated testing
Comprehensive knowledge of spacecraft subsystems and their impact on trajectory design and orbit determination accuracy

Firefly offers outstanding benefits for our employees, including generous health, dental and vision plans with low plan deductibles, parental leave, educational reimbursement, short term disability, and flexible PTO options.

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Firefly is governed based on merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

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