Trajectory Optimization Intern — Spaceflight Dynamics

The Aerospace Corporation; Colorado Springs (CO); On-site; USD 44,000 - 66,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health care and wellness plans

Paid holidays, sick time, and vacation

401(k) plan with company match

Relocation assistance

Education assistance programs

Flexible spending accounts

Telework options

Job summary

The Aerospace Corporation offers a Trajectory Optimization Graduate Intern–Flight Mechanics internship. You will provide trajectory analysis for spacecraft, launch, reentry vehicles, and missiles across Earth-centric and interplanetary missions.

The role emphasizes design assessment, pre-launch analysis, and Mission Ops with opportunities in Cis-Lunar trajectories. Selected interns will work with EOFDD engineers, contributing to challenging problems and collaborating with partners.

Qualifications

• Currently enrolled full-time in an accredited college/university pursuing a Master’s or PhD in aeronautical/astronautical engineering, physics or applied mathematics.
• Availability to work full-time for a minimum of 10 weeks outside of university term and ability to return to degree program full-time after completion of the internship.
• First year of graduate school completed by internship start date
• Minimum GPA of 3.0
• Graduate level coursework/research in orbit mechanics, hypersonic flight simulation, optimal control, flight mechanics, trajectory modeling and simulation
• Experience programming in C, Fortran, Python, or MATLAB
• Software design, development, unit testing, and integration experience
• Must be able to obtain a security clearance; US Citizenship required
• Transcripts required for this position

Responsibilities

• Develop and apply advanced techniques for solving flight mechanics and astrodynamics problems
• Perform trajectory simulation and performance optimization of spacecraft, launch vehicles, upper stages, missiles, and reentry vehicles
• Collaborates with an interdisciplinary team in ongoing research or technical programs with academic collaboration partners
• Applies standard techniques and procedures to carry out prescribed scientific/engineering tasks
• Work on business or engineering full life-cycle projects from inception through launch
• Training and mentorship will be provided

Skills

Orbit mechanics

Astrodynamics

Trajectory design

Trajectory optimization

Atmospheric flight modeling

C programming

Fortran

Python

MATLAB

Education

Master’s or PhD in aerospace/astronautical engineering

Tools

C

Fortran

Python

MATLAB

Job description

The Aerospace Corporation offers a Trajectory Optimization Graduate Intern–Flight Mechanics internship. You will provide trajectory analysis for spacecraft, launch, reentry vehicles, and missiles across Earth-centric and interplanetary missions.

The role emphasizes design assessment, pre-launch analysis, and Mission Ops with opportunities in Cis-Lunar trajectories. Selected interns will work with EOFDD engineers, contributing to challenging problems and collaborating with partners.