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Job Description Help for Job Description. Opens a new window. Senior Mission Design Engineer NASA Lunar & Cislunar Missions Kennedy Space Center, FL $150,000 - $175,000/Yearly U.S. Citizenship is required by Federal Law We are hiring a Senior Mission Design Engineer - Subject Matter Expert (SME) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, FL, supporting the Transportation Engineering Support (TENS) effort and Moon Base Transportation (MBT) Office. This role supports lunar and cislunar mission architecture, astrodynamics, trajectory optimization, orbital mechanics, launch vehicle and spacecraft performance analysis, and mission feasibility assessments using tools such as Copernicus, FreeFlyer, GMAT, STK/Astrogator, MATLAB, and Python. We are seeking an experienced aerospace mission design engineer to perform independent trajectory analyses, evaluate transportation architectures, assess delta-V and propellant requirements, and verify mission performance predictions supporting NASA's sustained lunar exploration objectives. The position contributes to transportation planning for habitats, cargo, logistics, scientific payloads, and other infrastructure supporting a sustained human presence near the Moon's South Pole. Working across propulsion, Guidance, Navigation and Control (GN&C), power, thermal, communications, structures, and payload engineering disciplines, you will deliver technically defensible mission assessments supporting NASA engineering reviews and mission decisions.

Responsibilities:

• Perform mission design, mission architecture, and technical trade studies supporting lunar, cislunar, and deep-space transportation missions.
• Design and evaluate spacecraft trajectories, destination orbits, orbital transfers, launch windows, maneuver sequences, and mission timelines.
• Analyze launch vehicle and spacecraft performance, including injection conditions, delta-V budgets, propellant consumption, delivered-mass capability, payload margins, and launch performance.
• Conduct mission feasibility assessments, performance margin evaluations, sensitivity studies, uncertainty analyses, and technical risk assessments.
• Evaluate transportation architecture trades involving orbital selection, mission duration, spacecraft capability, propulsion requirements, payload mass, and operational constraints.
• Develop, execute, and validate independent astrodynamics, trajectory simulation, and mission-analysis models to verify mission feasibility and performance predictions.
• Independently review mission design models, technical assumptions, analysis inputs, and performance results developed by partner organizations to identify gaps, limitations, and areas requiring further analysis.
• Analyze rendezvous, proximity operations, docking, orbital loiter, spacecraft disposal, and other mission phases as applicable.
• Collaborate with propulsion, GN&C, power, thermal, communications, structures, and payload engineering teams to assess subsystem impacts on mission architecture, performance margins, and delivered capability.
• Support development and evaluation of mission-level requirements, technical constraints, verification approaches, and mission success criteria.
• Present trajectory analyses, mission architecture trades, performance assessments, technical risks, and recommendations during engineering reviews and mission decision forums.
• Develop, modify, and automate mission-analysis tools, engineering models, and scripts to address evolving mission requirements and technical challenges.

Qualifications:

• U.S. Citizenship required by law or government contract
• Active Secret Clearance Required to Start
• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related engineering discipline with at least 8 years of relevant professional experience; OR a master's degree with at least 5 years of directly relevant professional experience in mission design, astrodynamics, trajectory analysis, spacecraft performance analysis, or related spaceflight engineering.
• Demonstrated subject matter expertise in spacecraft mission design, including independently performing complex mission analyses and engineering trade studies. Experience will be evaluated based on the scope, complexity, and relevance of mission-design responsibilities.
• Strong technical foundation in orbital mechanics, astrodynamics, trajectory analysis, spacecraft dynamics, and mission performance analysis.
• Experience performing mission analyses involving trajectory design, orbit selection, delta-V requirements, propellant requirements, launch vehicle performance, delivered mass, or spacecraft performance trades.
• Experience developing and applying analytical models, simulation tools, or computational methods to evaluate mission concepts, performance margins, and technical tradeoffs.
• Experience with mission design and analysis software or programming environments such as Copernicus, FreeFlyer, GMAT, STK/Astrogator, MATLAB, Python, or equivalent tools.
• Ability to independently evaluate complex engineering problems, identify critical assumptions and performance sensitivities, and develop technically defensible recommendations.
• Ability to document and communicate complex mission-analysis findings during multidisciplinary engineering reviews and technical decision forums.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's degree or Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering, Astrodynamics, or a related engineering discipline.
• Experience with lunar mission design, cislunar trajectory analysis, deep-space mission architecture, or human spaceflight programs.
• Experience evaluating launch vehicle performance, injection conditions, characteristic energy (C3), delivered-mass capability, and payload To view the full job description please use the link below.

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