Senior Flight Dynamics Engineer

Summary

Join Planet as a Senior Flight Dynamics Engineer and contribute to the mission planning and flight dynamics of our satellite constellation. You will work on a small team, developing and automating tools for mission design, orbit determination, maneuver design, and conjunction assessment. This role involves solving complex optimization problems to improve satellite operations and enable future missions. The position is full-time and remote, based in the United States. You will research, design, and architect new software solutions for managing mission design needs for Planet's growing satellite fleets. Directly impact Planet's success by improving the operations of its existing fleets and enabling future missions.

Requirements

• Advanced degree in aerospace engineering, physics or related technical field
• 6+ years of total relevant experience
• Background in orbital mechanics and space mission operations
• Software development experience in C++ and Python
• Ability to carry out first-principles analysis and operationalize MVP solutions
• Excellent written and verbal technical communication skills

Responsibilities

• Research, design and architect new software solutions for managing Mission Design needs for Planet's increasingly diverse fleets of satellites
• Work on complex optimization problems with your knowledge of flight dynamics and software engineering
• Directly contribute to Planet's success by improving the operations of its existing fleets of satellites, alongside enabling future missions

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with constellation and mission design trade studies
• Experience implementing one or more of the following
• Orbit determination and high-fidelity propagation
• Covariance realism
• Low-thrust mission design
• Operations research and solving large-scale optimization problems
• Maneuver automation
• Constellation management
• Microservice software architecture
• Experience maintaining peer-reviewed code, attention to quality including automated testing, and continuous integration and deployment

Benefits

• Comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision plans
• Health Savings Account (HSA) with a company contribution
• Generous Paid Time Off in addition to holidays and company-wide days off
• 16 Weeks of Paid Parental Leave
• Wellness Program and Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Home Office Reimbursement
• Monthly Phone and Internet Reimbursement
• Tuition Reimbursement and access to LinkedIn Learning
• Equity
• Commuter Benefits (if local to an office)
• Volunteering Paid Time Off