Flight Dynamics Engineer II: Space Trajectory & Missions

Rocket Lab Corporation; Littleton (CO); On-site; USD 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401(k) plan

Paid vacation

Paid holidays

Sick leave

Parental leave

Employee discounts

Job summary

Rocket Lab in Littleton, CO is seeking a Flight Dynamics Engineer II to design and validate trajectories for Earth orbiting, lunar, and interplanetary missions. You will work with Systems, Ground Software, Electrical, Avionics, Flight Software, Thermal, Propulsion, and GNC teams to deliver robust guidance solutions.

The role requires a Bachelor’s in Aerospace/Space Systems or related field, 2+ years in mission design, and U.S. citizenship.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace, Space Systems, or equivalent.
• 2+ years of experience in mission design and flight dynamics.
• Knowledge of orbital mechanics and Kalman filtering.
• Experience with mission analysis tools such as STK, GMAT, or equivalent.
• U.S. citizenship is required.
• Git/Jira experience for version control and project management.

Responsibilities

• Develop and analyze launch vehicle and spacecraft trajectories, including ascent, orbit insertion, and orbital maneuvers
• Perform orbital propagation, rendezvous planning, and station-keeping analysis for spacecraft operations
• Support mission design including launch window analysis, delta-V budgets, and contingency planning
• Interface with flight software and GNC teams to validate and optimize guidance profiles
• Generate and deliver trajectory data products and flight dynamics support for mission readiness reviews
• Contribute to development of in-house simulation tools and flight dynamics infrastructure
• Support real-time mission operations including anomaly response and post-launch data analysis

Skills

Mission design

Flight dynamics

Orbital mechanics

Kalman filtering

Git

Jira

US citizenship

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace, Space Systems, or Engineering

Tools

STK

Astrogator

GMAT

Monte

Copernicus

ODTK

Orekit

Git

Jira

Job description

Rocket Lab in Littleton, CO is seeking a Flight Dynamics Engineer II to design and validate trajectories for Earth orbiting, lunar, and interplanetary missions. You will work with Systems, Ground Software, Electrical, Avionics, Flight Software, Thermal, Propulsion, and GNC teams to deliver robust guidance solutions.

The role requires a Bachelor’s in Aerospace/Space Systems or related field, 2+ years in mission design, and U.S. citizenship.