Senior Lunar & Cislunar Mission Design Lead

Moseley Technical Services, Inc.; Merritt Island (FL); On-site; USD 150,000 - 175,000; Full time

Job summary

NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida seeks a Senior Mission Design Engineer SME to support lunar and cislunar transportation programs. You will analyze trajectories, evaluate launch conditions, and assess propulsion and spacecraft performance while collaborating with propulsion, GN&C, and payload teams.

The role requires a strong background in orbital mechanics, astrodynamics, and mission-analysis tools (Copernicus, FreeFlyer, GMAT, STK, MATLAB, Python). U.S.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related engineering discipline with at least 8 years of relevant professional experience; OR a master's degree with at least 5 years of directly relevant professional experience in mission design, astrodynamics, trajectory analysis, spacecraft performance analysis, or related spaceflight engineering.
• Strong technical foundation in orbital mechanics, astrodynamics, trajectory analysis, spacecraft dynamics, and mission performance analysis.
• Experience with mission design and analysis software or programming environments such as Copernicus, FreeFlyer, GMAT, STK/Astrogator, MATLAB, Python, or equivalent.
• Ability to independently evaluate complex engineering problems, identify critical assumptions and performance sensitivities, and develop technically defensible recommendations.
• Ability to document and communicate complex mission-analysis findings during multidisciplinary engineering reviews and technical decision forums.

Responsibilities

• Perform mission design, mission architecture, and technical trade studies supporting lunar, cislunar, and deep-space transportation missions.
• Design and evaluate spacecraft trajectories, destination orbits, orbital transfers, launch windows, maneuver sequences, and mission timelines.
• Analyze launch vehicle and spacecraft performance, including injection conditions, delta-V budgets, propellant consumption, delivered-mass capability, payload margins, and launch performance.
• Conduct mission feasibility assessments, performance margin evaluations, sensitivity studies, uncertainty analyses, and technical risk assessments.
• Evaluate transportation architecture trades involving orbital selection, mission duration, spacecraft capability, propulsion requirements, payload mass, and operational constraints.
• Develop, execute, and validate independent astrodynamics, trajectory simulation, and mission-analysis models to verify mission feasibility and performance predictions.
• Independently review mission design models, technical assumptions, analysis inputs, and performance results developed by partner organizations to identify gaps, limitations, and areas requiring further analysis.
• Analyze rendezvous, proximity operations, docking, orbital loiter, spacecraft disposal, and other mission phases as applicable.
• Collaborate with propulsion, GN&C, power, thermal, communications, structures, and payload engineering teams to assess subsystem impacts on mission architecture, performance margins, and delivered capability.
• Support development and evaluation of mission-level requirements, technical constraints, verification approaches, and mission success criteria.
• Present trajectory analyses, mission architecture trades, performance assessments, technical risks, and recommendations during engineering reviews and mission decision forums.
• Develop, modify, and automate mission-analysis tools, engineering models, and scripts to address evolving mission requirements and technical challenges.

Skills

Orbital mechanics

Astrodynamics

Trajectory analysis

Spacecraft dynamics

Mission performance analysis

Independent problem solving

Technical communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering or Mechanical Engineering

Master's degree in Aerospace Engineering

Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering

Tools

Copernicus

FreeFlyer

GMAT

STK/Astrogator

MATLAB

Python

Job description

NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida seeks a Senior Mission Design Engineer SME to support lunar and cislunar transportation programs. You will analyze trajectories, evaluate launch conditions, and assess propulsion and spacecraft performance while collaborating with propulsion, GN&C, and payload teams.

The role requires a strong background in orbital mechanics, astrodynamics, and mission-analysis tools (Copernicus, FreeFlyer, GMAT, STK, MATLAB, Python). U.S.