Spacecraft Ops Engineer II - Automation & Flight Software

Rocket Lab USA; Littleton (CO); On-site; USD 82,000 - 102,000; Full time

Job summary

Rocket Lab USA in Littleton, CO is seeking a Spacecraft Operations Engineer II to manage a growing satellite fleet across commissioning, orbit raising, routine operations, and re-entry.

You will collaborate with design, software, propulsion and ground systems teams, develop automation, ground and flight software, and validate requirements for missions with diverse spacecraft constellations. The role offers a competitive base salary in CO, with comprehensive benefits and potential equity.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering (software, computer, electrical, aerospace, mechanical, or other technical discipline).
• 2+ years experience in space mission design, satellite subsystems, ground systems, spacecraft operations.
• Understanding of key spacecraft subsystems: attitude control, power, comms, OBDH, thermal.
• Understanding of space environment, orbital mechanics, and rigid body dynamics.
• Software development experience (Python/Ruby/C/C++/other high-level languages).
• U.S. citizenship required due to program requirements.

Responsibilities

• Leverage automation to operate spacecraft and support mission execution.
• Design, develop and test ground software and scripting for long-term space operations.
• Develop flight software sequences and fault management configurations.
• Maintain continuous integration and testing of operational code.
• Provide on-call coverage or shifts for operations.
• Develop interface specifications, CONOPS, and other design documents.
• Run validation against spacecraft simulations and hardware-in-the-loop tools.

Skills

Programming languages

Spacecraft operations

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering

Tools

Git/CI-CD/Cloud

Job description

Rocket Lab USA in Littleton, CO is seeking a Spacecraft Operations Engineer II to manage a growing satellite fleet across commissioning, orbit raising, routine operations, and re-entry.

You will collaborate with design, software, propulsion and ground systems teams, develop automation, ground and flight software, and validate requirements for missions with diverse spacecraft constellations. The role offers a competitive base salary in CO, with comprehensive benefits and potential equity.