Senior Spacecraft Operations Engineer - Space Systems

Rocket Lab Corp.; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 135,000 - 225,000; Full time

Job summary

Rocket Lab in Long Beach, CA, is seeking a Senior Spacecraft Operations Engineer I/II to ensure health and performance of our growing satellite fleet. You will support commissioning, orbit raising, routine operations, and potentially re-entry phases, collaborating with design, GNC, flight software, and ground software teams.

The role covers diverse missions from LEO constellations to interplanetary explorations, with emphasis on software-driven ops, CI/CD, and on-call responsibilities.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering (software, computer, electrical, aerospace, mechanical, or other technical engineering discipline).
• 5+ years of direct experience in space mission design, satellite subsystems, ground systems, spacecraft command control or spacecraft operations.
• Understanding of attitude determination and control, electrical power, space-ground comms, on-orbit command and data handling, and thermal control.
• Understanding of space environment, orbital mechanics, and rigid body dynamics.
• Software development experience (Python/Ruby/C/C++/other high-level languages).
• Ability to obtain and maintain US Security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Leverage automation to operate spacecraft with software-driven efficiency.
• Develop and test ground software for long-term operations and scripting.
• Develop and test flight software sequences and telemetry configuration for health and fault management.
• Maintain continuous integration and testing of operational code.
• Be on-call for operations shifts and provide data analysis methods.
• Interface with design, AIT, flight software, propulsion, GNC, and ground software teams.

Skills

Python

Ruby

C/C++

Spacecraft operations

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering

Job description

Rocket Lab in Long Beach, CA, is seeking a Senior Spacecraft Operations Engineer I/II to ensure health and performance of our growing satellite fleet. You will support commissioning, orbit raising, routine operations, and potentially re-entry phases, collaborating with design, GNC, flight software, and ground software teams.

The role covers diverse missions from LEO constellations to interplanetary explorations, with emphasis on software-driven ops, CI/CD, and on-call responsibilities.