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Salary: USD 115,200 - 158,400 / annual
Rocket Lab is seeking a Senior Spacecraft Operations Engineer to ensure the health, safety, and optimal performance of a growing fleet of satellites while meeting mission objectives and SLAs for both commercial and government customers. You will support diverse missions including LEO constellations, interplanetary exploration, LEO rendezvous, and Space Development Agency (SDA) deployments. Your expertise will be critical during commissioning, orbit raising, routine operations, and potentially re-entry phases.
The Spacecraft Operations team works closely with spacecraft design, assembly/integration/test (AIT), flight software, propulsion, guidance/navigation/control (GNC), flight dynamics, and ground software development teams to continuously improve ground and satellite-based capabilities. This role offers unique breadth because you will cover multiple responsibilities with the majority of technical products supplied through vertical integration and in-house development.
Key responsibilities include:
- Leverage automation as a key enabler for spacecraft operations, focusing on software-driven solutions for efficient and reliable mission execution
- Design, develop, and test ground software for long-term space operations, including ground scripting for robust and automated operations
- Design, develop, and test flight software sequences and fault detection, isolation, and recovery (FDIR)/telemetry configuration to ensure spacecraft health and fault management
- Maintain continuous integration and testing of operational code
- Perform on-call or shift operations duties
- Develop test methods and data analysis approaches
- Develop interface specifications, concept of operations (CONOPS), and other design documents
- Run validation against spacecraft simulation tools including flatsat and hardware-in-the-loop (HITL) systems
- Support AIT teams across multiple spacecraft integrated tests (thermal vacuum, propulsion stack, dynamic integration test lab)
- Perform requirements validation and verification for subsystems and spacecraft missions
- Generate and maintain requirements for spacecraft missions including creation and disposition
- Provide program and product support to team leads and program managers; serve as key technical interface between Auckland, NZ and Long Beach, USA engineering teams
REQUIREMENTS:
- Bachelor's degree in engineering (software, computer, electrical, aerospace, mechanical, or other technical engineering discipline)
- 5+ years of direct experience in any of the following: space mission design, satellite subsystems, ground systems, spacecraft command control, or spacecraft operations
- Understanding of key spacecraft subsystems and their associated components, including attitude determination and control, spacecraft electrical power systems, space-ground communications, on-orbit command and data handling, and thermal control
- Understanding of the space environment, orbital mechanics, and rigid body dynamics
- Software development experience (Python, Ruby, C, C++, or other high-level languages)
- Ability to obtain and maintain US Security clearance
- Must be a US citizen, lawful US permanent resident (Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted as a refugee/asylee, or eligible to obtain required authorizations from the US Department of State and/or Commerce due to ITAR regulations
NICE-TO-HAVE QUALIFICATIONS:
- Master's or PhD in engineering (software, computer, electrical, aerospace, mechanical, or other technical engineering discipline)
- Prior experience in spacecraft operations
- Prior experience in satellite system design
- Prior experience in satellite ground systems
- Exposure to modern development practices (GIT, CI/CD, cloud infrastructure)
- Software-in-the-Loop (SIL) testing experience
- Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) testing experience
- Active TS/SCI US Government Security Clearance
