Mission Design Engineer SME

Aegis Aerospace Inc.; Florida; On-site; USD 150,000 - 175,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation assistance available

Job summary

Aegis Aerospace seeks a Mission Design Engineer – SME to support NASA's Transportation Engineering Support (TENS) and Moon Base Transportation Office at Kennedy Space Center. You will lead mission architecture studies, evaluate trajectories, and assess propulsion and launch constraints to enable lunar and cislunar transportation.

The role requires strong analytical skills and collaboration with multidisciplinary teams to produce technically defensible recommendations for mission decisions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering or related field with extensive mission-design experience.
• Depth in mission design, astrodynamics, trajectory analysis, or related spaceflight engineering.
• Strong knowledge of orbital mechanics and spacecraft performance analysis.
• Experience with analytical or simulation tools to evaluate mission concepts.
• Ability to develop or use mission-analysis tools (e.g., Copernicus, GMAT, STK/Astrogator).
• Excellent written and verbal communication; ability to work with multidisciplinary teams.

Responsibilities

• Perform mission design and architecture trade studies for lunar/cislunar missions.
• Develop trajectories, destination orbits, transfer strategies, and timelines.
• Assess propulsion, injection conditions, delta‑V, and payload margins.
• Conduct sensitivity analyses and risk assessments to identify key drivers.
• Create and run trajectory models to verify mission feasibility and performance.
• Collaborate with propulsion, GN&C, power, and other teams to support decisions.

Skills

Mission design

Astrodynamics

Trajectory analysis

Orbital mechanics

Spacecraft performance

Python

MATLAB

Copernicus

FreeFlyer

GMAT

STK/Astrogator

Education

Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering or related

Master's degree in related field

Tools

Copernicus

FreeFlyer

GMAT

STK/Astrogator

MATLAB

Python

Job description

Mission Design Engineer SME

Mission Design Engineer – Subject Matter Expert (SME)

Location: Kennedy Space Center area, Florida

Remote/Telework: Primarily on‑site/in‑office

Clearance/Background Screening: Must successfully complete a U.S. government background investigation

Citizenship Requirement: U.S. Citizen or lawful permanent resident (Green Card holder)

Work Schedule: Full‑time

Compensation: $150,000–$175,000 annually, depending on experience and qualifications

Relocation Assistance: May be available

Position Summary

Aegis Aerospace is seeking a Mission Design Engineer – Subject Matter Expert (SME) to support NASA's Transportation Engineering Support (TENS) effort and the Moon Base Transportation (MBT) Office at Kennedy Space Center. This is an opportunity to contribute directly to one of NASA's most ambitious exploration efforts: establishing a sustained human presence near the Moon's South Pole. NASA's phased Moon Base campaign is progressing from establishing reliable lunar access and learning through early missions, to deploying cargo transportation, logistics, power, communications, and other infrastructure, and ultimately toward a permanent lunar outpost where astronauts can live and work for extended periods. The Moon Base Transportation Office is helping solve the end‑to‑end transportation challenge behind that vision—how habitats, equipment, logistics, science payloads, and other Moon Base elements move from Earth to their required destinations in cislunar space and on the lunar surface. TENS provides engineering, analysis, systems engineering, mission support, and independent technical assessment supporting those transportation missions. As a Mission Design Engineer, you will help answer the mission‑level questions that determine what is possible: Where can we go? What trajectories and destination orbits are feasible? How much mass can we deliver? What performance margin remains? How do launch vehicle, spacecraft, propulsion, and operational constraints change the mission architecture? The selected candidate will provide expertise in mission architecture, astrodynamics, trajectory and orbit design, launch and spacecraft performance, and mission feasibility analysis. You will perform independent mission analyses, evaluate concepts and technical results developed by partner organizations, and work alongside specialists in propulsion, GN&C, power, thermal, communications, payloads, structures, and other disciplines to provide technically defensible assessments supporting NASA mission decisions.

Key Responsibilities

• Perform mission design and architecture trade studies supporting lunar, cislunar, and other deep‑space transportation missions.
• Develop and evaluate candidate trajectories, destination orbits, transfer strategies, launch opportunities, maneuver sequences, and mission timelines.
• Assess launch vehicle and spacecraft performance, including injection conditions, delta‑V requirements, propellant consumption, delivered‑mass capability, payload margins, and available launch performance.
• Evaluate mission concepts using performance margins, reserves, sensitivity studies, and uncertainty analyses to identify key drivers, assumptions, and technical risks.
• Perform trades involving orbit selection, transportation architecture, mission duration, spacecraft capability, propellant, payload mass, and operational constraints.
• Develop and execute independent trajectory and mission‑analysis models to assess mission feasibility and verify performance predictions.
• Review mission‑design analyses, models, assumptions, inputs, and results developed by partner organizations and identify gaps, sensitivities, limitations, and areas requiring additional analysis.
• Support analysis of rendezvous, proximity operations, docking, loiter, disposal, and other mission phases, as applicable.
• Collaborate across engineering disciplines to evaluate how subsystem capabilities and constraints affect overall mission feasibility, performance margins, and delivered capability.
• Support development and evaluation of mission‑level requirements, constraints, verification approaches, and success criteria.
• Present mission trades, analysis results, performance margins, risks, and recommendations during technical reviews and decision forums.
• Develop or modify mission‑analysis tools and scripts as needed to efficiently address new and evolving mission questions.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related engineering discipline with at least eight years of relevant professional experience, or a master's degree with at least five years of directly relevant professional experience in mission design, astrodynamics, trajectory analysis, spacecraft performance analysis, or related spaceflight engineering.
• Demonstrated depth of mission‑design expertise and the ability to independently perform mission analyses and technical trade studies. Experience will be evaluated based on the scope, complexity, and relevance of the candidate's mission‑design responsibilities.
• Strong foundation in orbital mechanics, trajectory analysis, spacecraft dynamics, and mission performance analysis.
• Experience performing mission analyses involving one or more of the following: trajectory design, orbit selection, delta‑V requirements, propellant requirements, launch performance, delivered mass, or spacecraft performance trades.
• Experience developing and using analytical or simulation tools to evaluate mission concepts and technical tradeoffs.
• Experience with mission‑analysis tools or programming environments such as Copernicus, FreeFlyer, GMAT, STK/Astrogator, MATLAB, Python, or equivalent tools.
• Ability to independently analyze complex technical problems, identify critical assumptions and sensitivities, and develop technically defensible recommendations.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and the ability to work effectively with multidisciplinary engineering teams.
• Must meet applicable citizenship and U.S. Government background investigation requirements.

Desired Qualifications

• Master's degree or Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering, Astrodynamics, or a related discipline.
• Experience with lunar, cislunar, deep‑space, or human spaceflight mission design.
• Experience evaluating launch vehicle performance, injection conditions, characteristic energy (C3), delivered mass, and payload performance margins.
• Experience assessing early mission concepts where orbits, architectures, margins, and performance assumptions are still evolving.
• Experience analyzing rendezvous, proximity operations, docking, loiter, or disposal mission phases.
• Experience independently evaluating or verifying trajectory and mission‑performance analyses produced by other teams.
• Familiarity with NASA mission design, systems engineering, technical review, and verification practices.
• Experience working with commercial spacecraft or launch vehicle organizations.

About Aegis Aerospace

We are a woman‑owned space and technology company headquartered in Houston, TX. Our primary objective is to support the Department of Defense and NASA in achieving their missions to defend the security of our country, reach new heights and to discover the unknown. We employ some of the brightest, most experienced engineering and technology experts in the U.S.

To learn more about Aegis Aerospace, visit our website at http://www.AegisAero.com

Aegis Aerospace is an Equal Opportunity Employer /M/F/disability/protected veteran employer.

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