Spacecraft Operations Engineer II
Based on site at Rocket Lab's headquarters in Long Beach, CA the Spacecraft Operations Engineer II is responsible for managing the health, safety, and performance of a growing fleet of satellites to meet mission objectives for commercial and government customers. This role involves supporting various mission phases, including commissioning, orbit raising, routine operations, and re-entry, across diverse mission types such as satellite constellations, interplanetary exploration, and orbital rendezvous. The position requires close collaboration with cross-functional teams, including spacecraft design, software, propulsion, and ground systems, to enhance satellite and ground-based capabilities.
The space operations experience at Rocket Lab is unique because you will cover a multitude of roles/positions and responsibilities, with the large majority of the technical products being supplied through the vertical integration/in-house.
What You'll Get To Do:
- Leverage automation as a key enabler to operate spacecraft, focusing on software-driven solutions for efficient and reliable mission execution
- Design, develop and test ground software for long term space operations: ground scripting for robust and automated ops
- Design, develop and test flight software sequences and FDIR/telemetry configuration to ensure spacecraft health and fault management through software-driven processes
- Maintain the continuous integration and testing of our operational code
- Ensure the on-call or shifts of operations
- Develop test methods and data analysis
- Develop interface specifications, CONOPS, and other design documents
- Run validation against spacecraft simulation tools: flatsat, HITL, etc.
- Support AIT teams across multiple spacecraft integrated tests (TVAC, propulsion stack, DITL)
- Perform requirements validation and verification for subsystems and spacecraft missions
- Generate and maintain requirements for spacecraft Missions including the creation and disposition
- Provide program and product support to team leads and program managers and be a key technical interface between the Auckland, NZ, Littleton, CO, and Long Beach, CA USA engineering teams
You'll Bring These Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in engineering (software, computer, electrical, aerospace, mechanical, or other technical engineering discipline)
- 2+ 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++/other high-level languages)
- U.S. citizenship required due to program requirements
These Qualifications Would Be Nice To Have:
- Master's or PhD engineering 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: Exposure to testing frameworks that simulate software behavior in operational environments
- Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) Testing: Familiarity with testing frameworks that integrate software and hardware systems
- TS/SCI Clearance