Flight Dynamics Software Engineer

The role

You will develop and maintain the flight dynamics software stack for Loft's satellite fleet. The work covers orbit determination, maneuver planning, conjunction assessment and backend services, and includes support for satellite operations.

What you will do

• Implement and improve algorithms for orbit determination, orbit propagation, maneuver planning, conjunction assessment, collision avoidance and attitude modeling
• Contribute to Loft's open-source astrodynamics tooling
• Develop and maintain flight dynamics ground software backend applications that compute, store and serve ephemerides, maneuvers, conjunctions and target orbits
• Work with systems and mission engineers to translate mission requirements and customer demands into operational outcomes
• Support satellite operations engineers with astrodynamics expertise during LEOP, anomalies and conjunction response
• Help configure the software stack for customer missions

Required qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in physics or an engineering discipline
• Deep technical understanding of some of: orbital mechanics, state estimation, spacecraft maneuver planning, conjunction assessment, spacecraft attitude modeling
• Fundamentals of numerical methods: solvers, optimization, simulation techniques
• Experience designing and developing software libraries and backend services in Python
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Operational flight-dynamics experience and software-engineering foundations

Nice to have

• Master's degree in physics or an engineering discipline
• Proficiency in astrodynamics tools such as STK, Astrogator, GMAT, OreKit, Monte, Copernicus, OpenSpaceToolkit or equivalent
• Practical experience in spacecraft constellation flight dynamics operations
• Practical experience building high-performance backend software applications or libraries
• Ability to solve complex problems in a highly collaborative environment

Benefits

• 100% company-paid medical, dental and vision for you and your dependents
• 100% company-paid life, AD&D and disability insurance
• Fully paid parental leave: 16 weeks for birthing parents, 10 weeks for non-birthing parents
• Flexible time off and 12 paid holidays
• HSA with employer contribution, FSAs and commuter benefits
• Carrot Fertility, One Medical and a free Employee Assistance Program
• 401(k) and equity
• Daily catered lunches and snacks in office
• Annual company off-site and regular social events
• International exposure to the team in France
• Relocation assistance when applicable

Before you apply

• Attach a copy of your resume in English

About the company

Loft provides governments, companies and research institutions a way to deploy missions in orbit, including integration, launch and operations. Founded in 2017, it has flown more than 30 missions and is scaling toward 30 satellites by 2027.