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Rocket Lab is seeking a Flight Dynamics Engineer II to join its Space Systems team in Long Beach, CA. You will perform tracking, navigation, maneuver planning, trajectory design, and collision avoidance analysis for Earth-orbiting, lunar, and interplanetary missions. Working alongside subject matter experts in systems, ground software, electrical, avionics, flight software, thermal, propulsion, and GNC engineering, you'll solve complex problems often under time-critical conditions.
Key responsibilities include developing and analyzing launch vehicle and spacecraft trajectories (ascent, orbit insertion, orbital maneuvers), performing orbital propagation and rendezvous planning, supporting mission design with launch window analysis and delta-V budgets, and interfacing with flight software and GNC teams to validate guidance profiles. You will generate trajectory data products for mission readiness reviews, contribute to in-house simulation tools and flight dynamics infrastructure, and support real-time mission operations including anomaly response and post-launch analysis.
Required qualifications: Bachelor's degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, Space Systems, Software Engineering, or equivalent; 2+ years in mission design or flight dynamics; understanding of orbital mechanics and orbit determination theory; experience with mission analysis tools (STK, Astrogator, GMAT, Monte, Copernicus, or equivalent); Python software development; Git or equivalent version control; Jira or equivalent project management; active Secret clearance or ability to obtain one; U.S. citizenship required.
Desirable qualifications include Master's degree in Aerospace Engineering, active TS/SCI clearance, Monte Carlo simulation experience, orbit determination analysis tools (ODTK, Orekit), team/software project management experience, and ability to work complex problems under pressure. Rocket Lab has enabled over 1,700 missions for NASA, Space Development Agency, U.S. Space Force, and other partners, building spacecraft and components for Moon and Mars exploration.
