Senior Mission Design Engineer
Impulse Space
Design
USD 120k-180k / year + Equity
Posted on Mar 26, 2026
As a Senior Mission Design Engineer at Impulse Space, your core responsibility will be to design and optimize in-space servicing missions which meet or exceed the requirements of potential customers. This role is part of the Product Management team but will require working closely with multiple teams including the Business Development and Engineering teams. This role will support the Business Development team in proposal development and be responsible for ensuring the mission designs and solutions proposed are technically sound. Some travel to interface directly with customers may be required.
- Department
- Product Management
- Employment Type
- Full Time
- Location
- Redondo Beach
- Workplace type
- Onsite
- Compensation
- $120,000 - $180,000 / year
Responsibilities
- Create mission designs which efficiently accomplish the stated goals of potential customers
- Maintain familiarity with the technical performance capabilities of Impulse’s space vehicles
- Develop tools to efficiently analyze, interpret, and present mission design results
- Assist in the effort of incorporating mission design technical details into written proposals
- Meet with customers to collect requirements and hear feedback regarding proposed mission designs
- Analyze proposed mission designs for effectiveness and identify areas of improvement
- Assist the Engineering team in the effort to continuously improve the spacecraft simulation and trajectory optimization software suite
- Work closely with the Business Development team to understand the needs of each customer and agree on the best approach for each proposal opportunity
- Examples of technical effort the mission design process may include: high-level CONOPs creation, maneuver design and trajectory optimization, requirements compliance verification, CAD fit checks, propellant budgeting, power budgeting, link budgeting, etc.
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in a technical field
- 4+ years of experience working in a technical role
- Ability to communicate technical material clearly and professionally
- Working knowledge of orbital mechanics and spacecraft operations
- Functional knowledge of spacecraft systems design and payload accommodations
- Proficient in at least one programming language with a preference for Python
Preferred Skills and Experience
- Master’s degree in a technical degree area
- Experience in one or more customer-facing roles
- Experience assembling spacecraft, overseeing the assembly of spacecraft, or integrating payloads onto spacecraft
- Experience operating spacecraft on orbit
- General familiarity with the space industry
- Demonstrated ability to operate in a startup environment
- Experience operating CAD software
- Experience with creating physics simulations or using orbital simulation software
Additional Information:
Compensation bands are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual level and base pay is determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on job-related skills, education, experience, technical capabilities and internal equity. In addition to base salary, for full-time hires, you may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of stock options, and access to medical, vision & dental coverage as well as access to a 401(k) retirement plan.
Impulse Space’s spacecraft manufacturing business is subject to U.S. export regulations including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR). This position requires applicants to be either U.S. Persons (i.e., U.S. citizen, U.S. national, lawful permanent U.S. resident (green card holder), an individual granted asylum in the U.S., or an individual admitted in U.S. refugee status) or persons eligible to obtain an export license from the U.S. Departments of State, Commerce, or other applicable U.S. government agencies. Learn more about the ITAR here.
Impulse Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Impulse Space is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.
About Impulse Space
Impulse Space, the in-space transportation company founded by Tom Mueller, is opening access beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) with its fleet of in-space transportation vehicles. The high-energy Helios vehicle unlocks orbits beyond LEO with its powerful Deneb engine, dropping off payloads in MEO, GEO, heliocentric, lunar, and other planetary orbits. The flight-proven Mira vehicle uses a nontoxic, high-impulse chemical propulsion system to offer orbital transport, constellation deployment, and precision reentry services to customers throughout LEO. Led by a team that delivered the most reliable rockets in history, Impulse provides economical and efficient in-space transportation by reliably and rapidly getting customers where they want to go.
Our Hiring Process
Stage 1:
Application Received
Stage 2:
Resume Review
Stage 3:
Intro Phone Interview
Stage 4:
Technical Phone Interview(s)
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