Senior Space Trajectory & Guidance Engineer

Rocket Lab Corporation

Long Beach (CA)

On-site

USD 152,000 - 233,000

Full time

4 days ago

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Benefits offered by this job

Company stock

Employee Stock Purchase Program

Comprehensive benefits

Job summary

Rocket Lab in Long Beach, CA, is seeking a Senior Flight Dynamics Engineer I to design and analyze spacecraft trajectories for Earth orbiting, lunar, and interplanetary missions. You’ll work with cross-functional teams to validate guidance profiles and support real-time operations.

The role requires a strong background in orbital mechanics, mission design, and software tools, plus an active clearance and US citizenship. Competitive compensation includes stock and comprehensive benefits.

Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, Space Systems, or Software Engineering, or an equivalent degree.
5+ years of experience in mission design and flight dynamics.
Understanding of orbital mechanics and orbit determination theory.
Experience with mission analysis tools such as STK, Astrogator, GMAT, Monte, Copernicus, or equivalent.
Experience with Git version control and Jira.

Responsibilities

Develop and analyze launch vehicle and spacecraft trajectories including ascent, orbit insertion, and maneuvers.
Perform orbital propagation, rendezvous planning, and station-keeping analysis for spacecraft operations.
Support mission design including launch window analysis, delta-V budgets, and contingency planning.
Interface with flight software and GNC teams to validate and optimize guidance profiles.
Generate trajectory data products and flight dynamics support for mission readiness reviews.
Contribute to in-house simulation tools and flight dynamics infrastructure.
Support real-time mission operations including anomaly response and post-launch data analysis.