Senior Mission Design and Navigation Engineer

Relativity Space; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 148,000 - 222,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Parental leave

Learning stipend

Generous PTO

Equity

Job summary

Relativity Space is seeking a Senior Mission Design and Navigation Engineer in Long Beach to lead trajectory analysis for the 2028 Mars Orbiter mission. You will own interplanetary and Mars orbital designs, advance flight navigation, and interface with DSN to ensure successful science goals from launch through Mars operations.

The role requires a strong background in astrodynamics, orbital mechanics, and software development in Python/MATLAB, with cross-team collaboration across GNC, software,

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant technical discipline with 5+ years of experience.
• Experience in spacecraft mission design, astrodynamics, flight navigation, orbit determination, or mission design software.
• Strong understanding of orbital mechanics and trajectory analysis.
• Experience with radiometric navigation and orbital determination.
• Ability to communicate technical decisions across engineering stakeholders.
• Software development experience in Python, MATLAB, or similar.

Responsibilities

• Own mission design and trajectory analysis for the 2028 Mars Orbiter mission.
• Develop and optimize interplanetary and Mars orbital trajectories under various constraints.
• Grow into technical ownership of flight navigation including orbit determination and data processing.
• Define requirements and interfaces for processing DSN radiometric tracking measurements (Doppler, range, Delta-DOR).
• Serve as the primary navigation interface with the Deep Space Network (DSN).
• Develop and maintain mission design/navigation tools, software architectures, and analysis capabilities.
• Act as an authority for Mission Design and Navigation across disciplines.

Skills

Astrodynamics

Orbit determination

Trajectory analysis

Python

MATLAB

Software development

Cross-team collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Astronautical/Aeronautical Engineering, Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, or related technical discipline

Tools

MONTE

DSN interfaces

Job description

Senior Mission Design and Navigation Engineer

Long Beach, California, United States

At Relativity Space, we’re building rockets to serve today’s needs and tomorrow’s breakthroughs. Our Terran R vehicle will deliver customer payloads to orbit, meeting the growing demand for launch capacity. But that’s just the start. Achieving commercial success with Terran R will unlock new opportunities to advance science, exploration, and innovation, pioneering progress that reaches beyond the known.

Joining Relativity means becoming part of something where autonomy, ownership, and impact exist at every level. Here, you’re not just executing tasks; you’re solving problems that haven’t been solved before, helping develop a rocket, a factory, and a business from the ground up. Whether you’re in propulsion, manufacturing, software, avionics, or a corporate function, you’ll collaborate across teams, shape decisions, and see your work come to life in record time. Relativity is a place where creativity and technical rigor go hand in hand, and your voice will help define the stories we’re writing together. Now is a unique moment in time where it’s early enough to leave your mark on the product, the process, and the culture, but far enough along that Terran R is tangible and picking up momentum. The most meaningful work of your career is waiting. Join us.

About The Team:

The Interplanetary Sciences Program was established to expand access to scientific exploration across our solar system. Its mission is to make planetary research faster, more affordable, and more capable than ever before by rethinking how science missions are designed, built, and operated. The program aims to enable scientists to send instruments to distant worlds without decades of development or prohibitive costs. By creating a sustainable model for interplanetary exploration, we are transforming space science from an occasional event into a continuous process of discovery that accelerates knowledge, broadens participation, and inspires the next generation of explorers.

About the Role:

As a Mission Design and Navigation Engineer within the Interplanetary Sciences Program, you will perform mission design activities for our 2028 Mars Orbiter mission. You will perform trajectory and navigation analyses that define how the spacecraft travels to Mars and achieves the orbital conditions required to accomplish its science mission.

As the program progresses toward flight, your responsibilities will expand into end-to-end ownership of mission design and navigation, including interplanetary trajectory design, Mars orbit design, orbit determination, navigation data processing, and interfaces with the Deep Space Network (DSN).

You will develop the engineering practices, processes, tools, interfaces, and software requirements needed to support mission design and flight navigation. You will work across spacecraft systems, GNC, communications, mission operations, and software teams to ensure the mission can be designed, navigated, and operated successfully from launch through Mars orbital operations.

Responsibilities include:

• Own mission design and associated trajectory analysis for the 2028 Mars Orbiter mission
• Develop and optimize interplanetary trajectories and Mars orbital trajectories subject to spacecraft, communications, operations, and science constraints
• Grow into technical ownership of flight navigation, including orbit determination, trajectory estimation, maneuver analysis, and navigation data processing
• Define requirements, interfaces, and methods for processing DSN radiometric tracking measurements, including Doppler, range, and Delta-DOR
• Serve as the primary navigation interface between the Interplanetary Sciences Program and the Deep Space Network
• Develop and maintain mission design and navigation tools, software requirements, architectures, and analysis capabilities
• Act as an authority for Mission Design and Navigation, working across GNC, spacecraft systems, communications, software, and mission operations

About You:

• Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Astronautical/Aeronautical Engineering, Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, or a similar technical discipline with 5+ years of related experience
• Experience in spacecraft mission design, astrodynamics, flight navigation, orbit determination, or mission design and navigation software development
• Strong understanding of orbital mechanics, trajectory analysis, and the engineering methods used to design and navigate spacecraft missions
• Experience with radiometric navigation and orbital determination
• Ability to work across disciplines and clearly communicate technical decisions, requirements, and tradeoffs to engineering stakeholders
• Experience working with software developers to define requirements and architectures for engineering or mission-critical software systems
• Software development experience in Python, MATLAB, or similar

Nice to Have:

• Experience with MONTE mission design and navigation software and tools
• Experience supporting interplanetary or deep-space missions
• Experience with the Deep Space Network
• Experience processing or analyzing DSN tracking measurements, including Doppler, Range, and Delta-DOR
• Experience with flight navigation operations, maneuver design and analysis, or orbit determination
• Familiarity with DSN systems, interfaces, documentation, and navigation data products
• Familiarity with software and systems configuration management in a mission-critical environment

At Relativity Space, we are committed to transparency and fairness in our compensation practices. Actual compensation will be determined based on experience, qualifications, and other job-related factors.

Compensation is only one part of our total rewards package. Relativity Space offers competitive salary and equity, a generous PTO and sick leave policy, parental leave, an annual learning and development stipend, and more! To see some of the benefits & perks we offer, please visit here.

Hiring Range:

$148,000 - $222,000 USD

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.