Senior Flight Dynamics Engineer I — Secret Clearance

Rocket Lab; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 132,000 - 198,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company equity

Top tier medical HMO

PPO

401(k) with match

Dental and vision

Job summary

Rocket Lab in Long Beach, CA seeks a Senior Flight Dynamics Engineer I to design trajectories, plan orbital maneuvers, and support mission design for Earth orbit and deep-space missions. You will work with Systems, Ground Software, and GNC teams to validate guidance profiles and generate data products.

Required: 5+ years in flight dynamics, strong orbital mechanics knowledge, Python development, and an active Secret clearance with U.S. citizenship.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or higher in a relevant engineering field or physics.
• 5+ years in mission design and flight dynamics.
• Strong orbital mechanics and orbit determination understanding.
• Experience with mission analysis tools and Python development.
• Active Secret clearance and U.S. citizenship required.

Responsibilities

• Develop and analyze launch vehicle and spacecraft trajectories.
• Perform orbital propagation and rendezvous planning.
• Support mission design including window analysis and delta-V budgets.
• Interface with flight software and GNC teams to validate guidance.
• Provide trajectory data products for readiness reviews.

Skills

mission design

flight dynamics

Python

Git

Jira

Secret clearance

U.S. citizenship

Education

Bachelor's degree in Aerospace/Mechanical/Space Systems or Software Engineering

Applied Physics degree

Master's degree (nice to have)

Tools

STK

Astrogator

GMAT

Monte Carlo methods

Copernicus

ODTK

Orekit

Job description

Rocket Lab in Long Beach, CA seeks a Senior Flight Dynamics Engineer I to design trajectories, plan orbital maneuvers, and support mission design for Earth orbit and deep-space missions. You will work with Systems, Ground Software, and GNC teams to validate guidance profiles and generate data products.

Required: 5+ years in flight dynamics, strong orbital mechanics knowledge, Python development, and an active Secret clearance with U.S. citizenship.