Spacecraft Operations Engineer II: Automation-Driven Missions

Rocket Lab Corp.; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Rocket Lab in Long Beach, CA seeks a Spacecraft Operations Engineer II to ensure health, safety, and optimal performance of a growing satellite fleet while meeting mission objectives for commercial and government customers.

This role involves commissioning, orbit raising, routine operations, and fault management with close collaboration across spacecraft design, flight software, GNC, and ground software teams. On-site duties and on-call support are expected.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or related field.
• 2+ years in space mission design, satellite subsystems, ground systems, or spacecraft operations.
• Knowledge of key spacecraft subsystems and environmental factors.

Responsibilities

• Leverage automation to operate spacecraft and improve mission execution.
• Design, develop and test ground software for long-term operations.
• Design and test flight software sequences and telemetry configurations for health and fault management.
• Maintain CI/CD for operational code and test methods.
• Support AIT with integrated spacecraft tests across multiple subsystems.
• Provide interfaces between teams across locations to ensure mission success.

Skills

Python

C/C++

Ruby

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering

Tools

Linux

Git

MATLAB

Job description

Rocket Lab in Long Beach, CA seeks a Spacecraft Operations Engineer II to ensure health, safety, and optimal performance of a growing satellite fleet while meeting mission objectives for commercial and government customers.

This role involves commissioning, orbit raising, routine operations, and fault management with close collaboration across spacecraft design, flight software, GNC, and ground software teams. On-site duties and on-call support are expected.