Orbit Determination Engineer (R&D)

About the Role

We are partnering with an exciting NewSpace company developing next-generation technologies for space intelligence, orbital awareness, and advanced spacecraft operations.

They are looking for an experienced Orbit Determination Engineer to join their engineering team and contribute to the development of state-of-the-art astrodynamics, space situational awareness, and orbital analysis capabilities.

This is a full-time, onsite role for an engineer with strong hands-on experience in astrodynamics, state estimation, and orbit determination. You will contribute to the development of simulation and analysis tools used to track, characterize, and perform high-fidelity trajectory analysis on objects operating in orbit.

Salary: $145,000-$170,000 USD, with some flexibility depending on the candidate’s experience and qualifications.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and implement advanced orbit determination algorithms, including Extended/Unscented Kalman Filters and batch estimators, to process multi-modal observation data.

• Perform orbit design, trajectory analysis, and precise state propagation for operational spacecraft and other on-orbit objects.

• Extract trajectory-related metadata from orbit determination and state estimation analyses to support broader system characterization.

• Develop automated tools to detect, characterize, and reconstruct on-orbit maneuvers.

• Ensure engineering activities comply with relevant industry standards and regulatory requirements.

• Document technical designs, test results, methodologies, and system performance.

• Mentor junior engineers and provide technical guidance across astrodynamics and estimation activities.

• Contribute to the development and continuous improvement of advanced space-domain analysis capabilities.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Aerospace Engineering, Astrodynamics, Applied Mathematics, or a related field.

• 5+ years of professional experience in orbit determination, state estimation, astrodynamics, or Space Domain Awareness (SDA).

• Strong understanding of orbital mechanics and mission design.

• Experience with orbital mechanics, orbit determination, or mission analysis software.

• Strong programming experience in Python, C++, MATLAB, or similar languages, particularly for astrodynamics modelling and estimation tool development.

• Demonstrated ability to mentor engineers and contribute technical leadership.

• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills with excellent attention to detail.

• Ability to work effectively within a dynamic, collaborative engineering environment.

Desired Qualifications

• Master’s degree or Ph.D. with research or professional focus in advanced astrodynamics, nonlinear estimation theory, orbit determination, or multi-target tracking.

• Deep expertise implementing advanced filtering techniques, including Extended/Unscented Kalman Filters, Particle Filters, and data-association algorithms.

• Advanced proficiency with industry-standard orbit determination and mission design tools such as ODTK, STK, FreeFlyer, GMAT, Orekit, or equivalent.

• Experience processing, calibrating, and characterizing data from multiple SDA sensor modalities, including optical, radar, RF, or laser-ranging systems.

• Experience transitioning astrodynamics algorithms from R&D into production environments.

• Familiarity with modern software and computing environments, including AWS/Azure, Docker, cloud architectures, high-performance computing, or parallel processing.

• Hands-on operational experience supporting spacecraft or other on-orbit systems, including conjunction assessment, collision-avoidance manoeuvre planning, or navigation anomaly resolution.

• Experience working with large-scale space surveillance, tracking, or orbital datasets.

• Must possess or be willing and eligible to obtain a United States Department of Defense Top Secret security clearance.

What You’ll Be Working On

You will work at the intersection of space systems, astrodynamics, software, and space situational awareness, helping develop next-generation capabilities for understanding and operating within an increasingly complex orbital environment.

This is an opportunity to work on technically challenging problems involving orbit determination, state estimation, trajectory reconstruction, manoeuvre detection, and multi-sensor space-domain data, while contributing to the development of advanced space technology.

Benefits

A comprehensive benefits package is offered, which may include:

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage

• 401(k) or equivalent retirement contribution/matching

• Paid vacation and sick leave

• Paid holidays

• Family and parental leave

• Other employee benefits and support programs

Equal Opportunity

The company is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees regardless of age, disability, sex, race, religion, gender, national origin, veteran status, or any other legally protected characteristic.

Reasonable accommodations will be provided to qualified applicants where required.