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Optical Navigation Engineer

Locations:

Houston, TX; Littleton, CO; Remote

About Intuitive Machines

Intuitive Machines is an innovative and cutting-edge space company making cislunar space accessible to both public and private customers. Our mission is to further science and exploration, communications, and economic progress from the Earth to the Moon and beyond. With the first commercial lunar landing in history, multiple NASA lunar missions in development, and additional private missions on our manifest, we pride ourselves in supporting our customers and the nation in paving the way to return humans to the surface of the Moon. Our world-class team includes experts in all aspects of spacecraft subsystems design, development, and test, on-orbit operations, and safety.

We are seeking a talented and experienced Optical Navigation Engineer to play a key role on our Flight Dynamics - Interplanetary team.

Responsibilities:

• Support high-profile interplanetary missions such as NASA’s OSIRIS-APEX and Lucy, as well as commercial Lunar and Mars programs.
• Perform optical navigation ground and flight software development, testing, integration, and flight validation.
• Perform optical navigation operational analysis, calibration, planning, and image processing.
• Perform shape modeling and digital terrain mapping of planetary surfaces, including asteroids and the Moon.
• Produce technical reports and present results to the wider ground navigation team and project stakeholders.
• Coordinate analyses with and work alongside our industry and mission partners.
• Work closely with spacecraft subsystem engineers, scientists, and other stakeholders to understand mission requirements.
• Perform other duties as required.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s with minimum of 2-5+ years of experience, or Master’s with 0-2+ years of experience in the field or in a related area.
• Degree in Aerospace Engineering, Astrodynamics, Astronomy, Planetary Science, Optics, Physics, or related discipline.
• Knowledge of optical navigation with expertise in at least one or more of the following domains: celestial navigation, terrain-relative navigation, observational astronomy, astrodynamics, computer vision (classical and/or AI/ML), or software engineering.
• Proficiency in Python and C/C++ program languages.
• Experience with Python package management systems such as Conda/mamba and configuration management systems such as git/GitLab.
• Experience with Linux operating systems.
• Excellent technical, communications, and interpersonal skills.
• Demonstrated experience in leading work groups and teams.
• Ability to work collaboratively in a multi-disciplinary team environment.
• Must be available to travel for team meetings and critical operations support as needed.
• Must be willing to cross-train in other deep space navigation disciplines as required to maintain our multi-mission workforce.
• Must be a US Citizen.

Preferred Requirements:

• PhD in Aerospace Engineering, Astrodynamics, Astronomy, Planetary Science, Optics, Physics, or related discipline.
• Experience with one or more of the following: astronomical image processing, planetary shape/terrain modeling, optical systems design and testing, statistical estimation, photometric analysis, deep space mission operations, embedded software development, space systems engineering, or space domain awareness.
• Experience with on-board spacecraft flight software development.
• Proficiency with Optical Navigation toolkits such as NASA’s GIANT API.
• Experience with the NAIF SPICE toolkit.
• Experience with NASA’s core Flight System (cFS) framework.

Competency Levels:

The possible competency levels for this position and the salary ranges for Colorado-based employees are:

• Level II: $100,000 – $130,000
• Level III: $130,000 – $160,000

US EEO Statement

Intuitive Machines is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or medical conditions related to pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding), age, medical condition, marital or domestic partner status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression and transgender status, mental disability or physical disability, genetic information, military or veteran status, citizenship, low-income status or any other status or characteristic protected by applicable law.

other status or characteristic protected by applicable law.