Senior Space Flight and Navigation Engineer (Orbit Determination & Maneuver Planning)

Location: Tempe, Arizona; hybrid eligible. U.S. citizenship is required.

Company

KinetX Aerospace, a subsidiary of Intuitive Machines, provides space navigation, flight dynamics, mission operations, communications, systems engineering, and related aerospace products and services.

What you will do

• Lead flight dynamics activities for modernization and sustainment of the MUOS Orbit Analysis System.
• Develop, validate, and deploy high-precision orbit determination solutions and operational ephemeris generation for GEO spacecraft.
• Plan and optimize North-South and East-West station-keeping, relocation, and special maneuver campaigns.
• Lead technical assessments, trade studies, design reviews, verification testing, system integration, and acceptance testing.
• Integrate astrodynamics algorithms and STK/ODTK analytical services into modern software and DevSecOps environments.
• Coordinate with mission operations, software and systems engineers, satellite operators, customers, and government stakeholders while mentoring junior engineers.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, astronautical engineering, physics, applied mathematics, or a related technical discipline.
• 10+ years of experience in spacecraft flight dynamics, orbit determination, mission analysis, maneuver planning, or satellite operations.
• Strong understanding of orbital mechanics, estimation theory, covariance analysis, and operational flight dynamics.
• Experience with STK, ODTK, GMAT, FreeFlyer, MATLAB, Python, or equivalent astrodynamics tools.
• Experience developing technical requirements and supporting system verification activities.
• 5+ years of software testing experience, including at least 2–3 years in a leadership or coordination role managing or participating on QA teams and test strategies.
• Ability to communicate complex technical concepts to engineering and customer audiences.
• U.S. citizenship required.

Nice to have

• Experience with military satellite communications, U.S. Space Force, SSC, General Dynamics Mission Systems, or related national security space programs.
• Experience with GEO spacecraft operations, operational orbit determination algorithms, or automated maneuver planning systems.
• Python software development and scientific computing frameworks.
• Containerized deployment environments, modern software architecture, Agile development, DevSecOps, or digital engineering.
• Collision avoidance, conjunction assessment, and space domain awareness workflows.
• Master’s degree in aerospace engineering, astrodynamics, applied mathematics, or physics.

Culture & Benefits

• Full-time role supporting a mission-critical U.S. Space Force satellite communications program.
• Opportunity to shape orbit maintenance architecture, operational concepts, and extensible maneuver-planning capabilities.
• Customer-facing, multidisciplinary environment spanning mission operations, software engineering, and systems engineering.