Orbital Dynamics Engineer — Mission Design & Planning

Planetlabs; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 114,200 - 142,700; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, Vision

HSA with company contribution

Paid Time Off & holidays

Parental Leave 16 weeks

Wellness Program

Home Office Reimbursement

Phone & Internet Reimbursement

Tuition Reimbursement

Equity

Commuter Benefits

Volunteer PTO

Job summary

Planet is seeking a Flight Dynamics Engineer to design and optimize mission planning for its satellite constellation. You will join a small team handling mission design, orbit determination, and maneuver execution, building tools to automate design trade-offs and improve operations across Planet’s fleets.

You will work in our San Francisco office in a hybrid setup, three days onsite, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to enable future missions while applying first-principles analysis

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, physics or related technical field.
• 2–3 years of relevant work experience.
• Experience in orbital mechanics and space mission operations.
• Software development experience in C++ and Python.
• Ability to carry out first-principles analysis and operationalize MVP solutions.
• Excellent written and verbal technical communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Research, design, and architect new software solutions for Mission Design needs.
• Work on complex optimization problems with flight dynamics and software engineering.
• Develop and automate tools to assess mission design trade-offs.
• Collaborate with mission planning, flight dynamics, and ground software teams.
• Perform first-principles analysis to optimize scheduling of imaging and contacts.

Skills

C++

Python

Orbital mechanics

Mission operations

Technical communication

Education

Bachelors in Aerospace Engineering/Physics

Job description

Planet is seeking a Flight Dynamics Engineer to design and optimize mission planning for its satellite constellation. You will join a small team handling mission design, orbit determination, and maneuver execution, building tools to automate design trade-offs and improve operations across Planet’s fleets.

You will work in our San Francisco office in a hybrid setup, three days onsite, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to enable future missions while applying first-principles analysis