Space Mission Systems Engineer

One team. Global challenges. Infinite opportunities. At Viasat, we’re on a mission to deliver connections with the capacity to change the world. For more than 35 years, Viasat has helped shape how consumers, businesses, governments and militaries around the globe communicate. We’re looking for people who think big, act fearlessly, and create an inclusive environment that drives positive impact to join our team.

The Strategic Space Systems (S3) team at Viasat in Tempe, Arizona is responsible for development of full lifecycle space programs with varying scope, from chip scale to full-on space missions. Our programs provide key capabilities for the US government as well as commercial end-users.

Programs in the business area are far-reaching and impactful - enabling the US and the world in commercial and defense applications like resilient space communications and networking, remote sensing, and much more. The S3 team is primarily composed of a small group of highly skilled cross-domain engineers who take on challenging problems daily.

The role of a Space Mission Systems Engineer within our S3 group is to bridge all the areas of a space mission – space, ground, launch, and support segments. Space Systems engineers in the group will conceptualize, design, develop, build, integrate, & test, flight hardware for an end-customer. In many cases, we operate the unique missions on-orbit as well.

• Cradle-to-grave space mission development from mission concept to on-orbit operations
• Develop Space system budgets (RF link, data, power, mass, delta-V, propellant budgets)
• Conduct System Analyses & Trade Studies (orbits, constellations, accesses, flight profiles)
• Manage System Requirements (Definition, Flow-down, Management, Verification & Validation)
• Develop a specification & statement of work to procure a spacecraft bus for various missions
• Manage spacecraft bus vendors and learn their platform as they develop and execute a contract
• Work with space flight hardware as you prepare for and conduct Space Vehicle Assembly, Integration, & Test (AI&T)
• Conduct mission operations for a flight space vehicle – plan and execute exciting mission experiments, trend & analyze space vehicle state-of-health telemetry, and develop & use operations tools

• 2+ years’ Space / Mission Systems engineering experience
• Proven experience with a flight spacecraft/mission delivery or flight space hardware delivery effort
• Bachelor's degree in Space Systems Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or equivalent professional experience
• U.S. Government Position; U.S. Citizenship Required  
• Active TS Clearance with ability to obtain TS/SCI when administratively feasible
• Ability to travel up to 25%

• Active TS/SCI Clearance
• Professional or academic experience with Ansys/AGI System Tool Kit (STK)
• Experience with using Mechanical/Electrical CAD tools
• Experience with software/code development using IDEs / text editors
• Mathematical modeling and analysis
• Experience using Git, SVN, Perforce, or other version control tools
• Experience with requirements management & system definition (Cameo, Jama, DOORS, etc.)
• Space mission contract experience – proposal development, government contracts, and/or spacecraft bus procurement experience
• Detailed understanding of one or more space vehicle subsystems (a history of designing, building, and testing a particular component, module, or assembly within a subsystem)

Viasat is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, seeking to create a welcoming and diverse environment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, marital status, genetics, age, or veteran status or any other applicable legally protected status or characteristic. If you would like to request an accommodation on the basis of disability for completing this on-line application, please click

careers@viasat.com