Flight Dynamics Software Engineer

Loft Orbital is looking for a Flight Dynamics Software Engineer to join the Ground Platform organization.

You'll work on a small and driven team, developing our flight dynamics software stack so that it can:

• Scale to fly 50+ satellites in orbit in a highly automated, reliable, and safe (from a collision avoidance perspective) manner
• Enable new conops and customer missions with demanding orbit determination, stationkeeping, and attitude performance requirements

We're looking for someone with a solid theoretical understanding of astrodynamics, operational flight-dynamics experience, and software-engineering foundations. If you enjoy solving hard problems and working in a fast-paced and supportive environment, we'd love to hear from you.

About this role:

• Implement and improve upon algorithms for orbit determination, orbit propagation, maneuver planning (stationkeeping/orbit transfer), conjunction assessment, collision avoidance, and attitude modeling, contributing to our open-source astrodynamics tooling that powers both flight operations and simulation work across the company
• Develop and maintain the in-house flight dynamics ground software backend applications that compute, store, and serve our fleet’s ephemerides, maneuvers, conjunctions, target orbits, etc
• Interface with systems and mission engineers to help translate technical mission requirements and customer demands into operational outcomes in orbit
• Support satellite operations engineers by providing astrodynamics expertise during LEOP/anomalies/conjunction response and assisting with configuring our software stack for various customer missions

Must Haves:

• Bachelor's degree in physics or an engineering discipline
• Deep technical understanding of some of the following topics: orbital mechanics, state estimation, spacecraft maneuver planning, conjunction assessment, and spacecraft attitude modeling
• Fundamentals of numerical methods: solvers, optimization, and simulation techniques
• Experience with designing and developing software libraries and backend services, preferably in Python.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal

Nice to Haves:

• Master’s degree in physics or an engineering discipline
• Proficiency in astrodynamics tools such as STK, Astrogator, GMAT, OreKit, Monte, Copernicus, OpenSpaceToolkit, or equivalent.
• Demonstrated practical experience in spacecraft constellation flight dynamics operations
• Demonstrated practical experience building high-performance backend software applications and/or libraries
• Capable of solving complex problems within a highly collaborative environment

Some of Our Awesome Benefits:

• 100% company-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance option for employees and dependents
• Flexible Spending (FSA) and Health Savings (HSA) Accounts offered with an employer contribution to the HSA
• 100% employer paid Life, AD&D, Short-Term, and Long-Term Disability insurance
• Flexible Time Off policy for vacation and sick leave, and 12 paid holidays
• 401(k) plan and equity options
• Daily catered lunches and snacks
• International exposure to our team in France
• Fully paid parental leave; 14 weeks for primary caregiver and 10 weeks for secondary caregiver
• Carrot Fertility provides comprehensive, inclusive fertility healthcare and family-forming benefits with financial support
• Off-sites and many social events and celebrations
• Relocation assistance when applicable