Senior Spaceflight Trajectory & Flight Dynamics Engineer

rocketlab; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock purchase program

Medical plans

Dental and vision coverage

Paid vacation and sick time

11 paid holidays

Flexible spending accounts

Parental leave

Disability and life insurance

401(k) with company match

EV charging

Onsite fitness centers

Job summary

Rocket Lab in Long Beach, CA is seeking a Senior Flight Dynamics Engineer I to design and analyze trajectories for Earth-orbiting, lunar, and interplanetary missions. You will collaborate with Systems, Ground Software, Electrical, Avionics, and GNC teams to validate guidance profiles and ensure mission readiness.

You’ll perform propagation, rendezvous planning, and contingency analyses while contributing to in-house simulation tools and real-time operations.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, Space Systems, or Software Engineering, or an equivalent Engineering or Applied Physics degree.
• 5+ years of experience in mission design, flight dynamics.
• Understanding of orbital mechanics, Orbit determination theory.
• Experience with mission analysis tools like STK, Astrogator, GMAT, Monte, Copernicus, or equivalent.
• Proficient in Python software development.
• Git version control experience.
• Experience with Jira or equivalent project management tool.
• Active Secret clearance or ability to obtain and maintain one; U.S. citizenship required.

Responsibilities

• Develop and analyze launch vehicle and spacecraft trajectories, including ascent, orbit insertion, and orbital 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 and deliver trajectory data products and flight dynamics support for mission readiness reviews.
• Contribute to development of in-house simulation tools and flight dynamics infrastructure.
• Support real-time mission operations including anomaly response and post-launch data analysis.

Skills

Python

Orbital mechanics

Mission design

Git

Jira

Education

Bachelor's in Aerospace/Mechanical/Space Systems

Master's degree (nice to have)

Tools

STK

Astrogator

GMAT

Monte

Orekit/Copernicus

Job description

Rocket Lab in Long Beach, CA is seeking a Senior Flight Dynamics Engineer I to design and analyze trajectories for Earth-orbiting, lunar, and interplanetary missions. You will collaborate with Systems, Ground Software, Electrical, Avionics, and GNC teams to validate guidance profiles and ensure mission readiness.

You’ll perform propagation, rendezvous planning, and contingency analyses while contributing to in-house simulation tools and real-time operations.