Emerging Missions Flight Dynamics Engineer

The Aerospace Corporation is the trusted partner to the nation's space programs, solving the hardest problems and providing unmatched technical expertise. As the operator of a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC), we are broadly engaged across all aspects of space- delivering innovative solutions that span satellite, launch, ground, and cyber systems for defense, civil and commercial customers. When you join our team, you'll be part of a special collection of problem solvers, thought leaders, and innovators.

Join us and take your place in space.

The Enterprise Effects Division (EED) drives integration of Aerospace's strategic capabilities across the national space enterprise. The divisionleveragesa broad array of engineering disciplines against a diverse and dynamic portfolio of programs, customers, and national challenges. EED spans the capability lifecycle from concept and architecture design to performance assessment to application of space and space-enabled capabilities.

As a corecomponentof EED, the Emerging Missions Flight Dynamics (EMFD) Department provides flight mechanicsexpertisefor the cislunar domain, multi-objective"traveling salesman" trajectory sequence generation, facility location optimization, and trans-atmospheric flight design for missiles,hyperglide vehicles, and reentry vehicles. Relevant skills for a Senior Member of Technical Staff within EMFD include orbital mechanics, astrodynamics, trajectory design and optimization, and atmospheric flight modeling and simulation. The selected candidate will provideexpertisefor a wide range of customer flight mechanics needs, supporting analysis, research, and development requests.

The work will require candidates to provide deep technical solutions while also collaborating with engineering partners tofacilitateintegrated solutions for our customers' hardest problems. Customers will include defense, intelligence, and civil and commercial organizations.

Work Model

• The selected candidate willbe required to work full time, on-site in El Segundo, CA, Chantilly, VA, or Albuquerque, NM

What You'llbe Doing:

Primary Support

• Cislunar and exploration-class orbital mechanics analysis and trajectory optimization

• Hypersonics, missiles, interceptors, and reentry vehicle trajectory design and optimization

• Time-dependent Traveling Salesman Problems and Facility Location Problem analysis

• Astrodynamics and orbital mechanics analysis including orbit propagation and maneuver design and optimization for orbit transfer, station keeping, graveyard, disposal, and reentry events

• Analysis of vehicles with chemical and/or electric propulsion

• Evaluating contestedmissionsapplications for space systems to understand threat performance, assess vulnerabilities, and improve system resiliency

• Developing Concepts of Operations (CONOPS), exploring Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs), and incorporating operational constraints into the design and maturation of space and near-space systems

• Providing operational support for nominal launch and spacecraft deployment and transfer sequences, anomaly resolution, and on-call emerging events

• Utilizingoptimalcontrol, flight mechanics, and computer science/algorithm development skills to create new capabilities to service customer requests as stand-alone services and/or ready-to-integrate submodules

• Performing research and development and building new flight dynamics tools to cultivate andmaintaina healthy and modern internal tool base

• Leveraging external tools like ASSET, GPOPS-II, SNOPT, POST, OTIS, Copernicus, GMAT, EMTG, etc. where appropriate toaugment internally developed capabilities

Additional inter-department partnership collaborations opportunities:

• Maneuver and orbit design,selection, and optimization for missions that support Rendezvous and Proximity Operations (RPO) objectives with complex operational constraints

• Trajectory design and optimization for launch vehicles and spacecraft for missionsoperatingin LEO, MEO, HEO, GEO, and other earth-centric regimes

What You Need to be Successful

Minimum Requirements for Senior Member of Technical Staff - Flight Mechanics:

• MS or PhD degreedegreefrom an accredited college/university programin engineering, mathematics, physics, computer science, or related field

• Threeor more years of related industry/work experience

• Experience in one or more of the following subjects: space mission analysis and design, advanced astrodynamics, algorithm design, software development, or mathematical modeling, multi-objective optimization, trajectory simulation and performance optimization of spacecraft, missiles, and reentry vehicles

• Proficiency with one or more of the following programming languages/tools: C, C++, Python, Fortran, MATLAB, Java Script

• Effective written and verbal communication skills

• Willing to travel domestically to customer and contractor facilities (approx. 10%)

• This position requires the ability to obtain andmaintaina security clearance, which is issued by the US government. U.S citizenship…