Flight Dynamics Engineer

Job description

Ready to make connectivity from space universally accessible, secure, and actionable? Then you’ve come to the right place! At E-Space, we’re focused on bridging Earth and space with the world’s most sustainable low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite network. We’re a team of bold thinkers, ambitious leaders and dynamic doers—and we’re disrupting NewSpace by fundamentally changing the design of legacy LEO space systems to deliver entirely new satellite capabilities at a fraction of the cost. We’re intentional, we’re unapologetically curious and we’re 100% committed—to saving space, to protecting our planet and to turning connectivity into actionable intelligence. ### Why this role is important: - As a Senior Flight Dynamics Engineer, you will develop and maintain in-house and commercial flight dynamics and mission analysis software tools, and apply them to design, analyze, and operate our satellite constellations. You will engage with E-Space Guidance Navigation and Controls, Software, and Operations engineers. This position will report to the Director of GNC and will be based in our Saratoga office. ### What you will be doing: - End-to-end development, validation, and use of state-of-the-art scalable in-house flight dynamics software, for high-fidelity constellation orbit propagation and maneuver simulations. - Perform various studies using STK, including validation of in-house tools and models, flight dynamics studies and mission analyses (e.g., deployment, maneuver design, lifetime prediction, collision avoidance, ground pass and coverage analysis). - Design, optimize, and automate orbit maneuver strategies and algorithms for constellation deployment, station-keeping, replenishment, collision avoidance, and re-entry. - Architect, develop, and deploy Space Situation Awareness (SSA) and collision avoidance strategies. - Develop and use both commercial and in-house tools to support spacecraft operations. - Own all aspects of software development, including architecture, development, testing, configuration management, mission integration and operation. - Interact cross-functionally with other subsystem engineers across E-Space locations, providing expertise feedback, and contributing ideas as needed. - Participate, present and prepare documentation for design reviews. ### What you bring to this role: - You have a Master's+ 5 years of relevant experience or a PhD + 3 years of relevant experience. - Your degree is in Aerospace, Software, Mathematics, or another relevant field. - Your experience is in orbital flight dynamics or mission analysis, preferably related to low-Earth orbit and constellations. - You have deep knowledge and experience in orbital mechanics, including orbit propagation and maneuvers, in particular for low-Earth orbit constellations. - You have deep experience with STK, or equivalent tools (e.g., GMAT, FreeFlyer). - You have software development experience in C/C++, Matlab, and Python. - You have experience developing scalable collaborative software projects based on Git repositories. - You have theoretical knowledge and practical experience with numerical integrators and differential equations. - You have theoretical knowledge and practical experience with numerical optimization methods. - You have practical experience with mission analysis, including pass predictions, coverage analysis, and link budgets. - You have knowledge of spacecraft systems and familiarity with key constraints and trades for low-Earth orbit mission analysis, constellation design and multi-spacecraft operations. - You have experience implementing orbit determination algorithms. - You're a highly proactive team player with excellent technical communication and presentation skills. ### Additional Requirements This is a fast-paced, high-impact environment - flexibility to occasionally work extended hours or weekends during critical periods is expected.