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Salary: USD 148,000 - 222,000 / annual
Relativity Space is building rockets to serve today's needs and tomorrow's breakthroughs. The Terran R vehicle will deliver customer payloads to orbit, and the company is now establishing an Interplanetary Sciences Program to expand access to scientific exploration across the solar system. The program aims to make planetary research faster, more affordable, and more capable by rethinking how science missions are designed, built, and operated.
As a Senior Mission Design and Navigation Engineer within the Interplanetary Sciences Program, you will own mission design and trajectory analysis for the 2028 Mars Orbiter mission. Your responsibilities will expand to include end-to-end ownership of mission design and navigation, including interplanetary trajectory design, Mars orbit design, orbit determination, navigation data processing, and interfaces with the Deep Space Network (DSN).
Key responsibilities include:
- Own mission design and associated trajectory analysis for the 2028 Mars Orbiter mission
- Develop and optimize interplanetary trajectories and Mars orbital trajectories subject to spacecraft, communications, operations, and science constraints
- Grow into technical ownership of flight navigation, including orbit determination, trajectory estimation, maneuver analysis, and navigation data processing
- Define requirements, interfaces, and methods for processing DSN radiometric tracking measurements, including Doppler, range, and Delta-DOR
- Serve as the primary navigation interface between the Interplanetary Sciences Program and the Deep Space Network
- Develop and maintain mission design and navigation tools, software requirements, architectures, and analysis capabilities
- Act as an authority for Mission Design and Navigation, working across GNC, spacecraft systems, communications, software, and mission operations
You will develop engineering practices, processes, tools, interfaces, and software requirements needed to support mission design and flight navigation. You will work across spacecraft systems, GNC, communications, mission operations, and software teams to ensure the mission can be designed, navigated, and operated successfully from launch through Mars orbital operations.
REQUIREMENTS:
- Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Astronautical/Aeronautical Engineering, Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, or a similar technical discipline with 5+ years of related experience
- Experience in spacecraft mission design, astrodynamics, flight navigation, orbit determination, or mission design and navigation software development
- Strong understanding of orbital mechanics, trajectory analysis, and the engineering methods used to design and navigate spacecraft missions
- Experience with radiometric navigation and orbital determination
- Ability to work across disciplines and clearly communicate technical decisions, requirements, and tradeoffs to engineering stakeholders
- Experience working with software developers to define requirements and architectures for engineering or mission-critical software systems
- Software development experience in Python, MATLAB, or similar
NICE TO HAVE:
- Experience with MONTE mission design and navigation software and tools
- Experience supporting interplanetary or deep-space missions
- Experience with the Deep Space Network
- Experience processing or analyzing DSN tracking measurements, including Doppler, Range, and Delta-DOR
- Experience with flight navigation operations, maneuver design and analysis, or orbit determination
- Familiarity with DSN systems, interfaces, documentation, and navigation data products
- Familiarity with software and systems configuration management in a mission-critical environment
