Pixxel
Website:
pixxel.space
Job details:
Role: Sr. Flight Dynamics Engineer
Employment Type: Full Time
Educational Qualification: Bachelors / M.Tech / MS / Ph.D in Aerospace Engineering, Physics, Controls or equivalent
Work Experience: 4+ years of relevant work experience
Role Description
The Senior Flight Dynamics Engineer acts as a technical leader accountable for the end-to-end Flight Dynamics System (FDS) across diverse satellite programs. This position demands profound expertise in astrodynamics integrated with mastery in software architecture and development. You will be responsible for the creation, deployment, and long-term maintenance of the FDS software—the operational backbone critical to achieving mission success.
You will spearhead flight dynamics software development for every mission, delivering vital support for mission planning, routine spacecraft health operations, constellation maintenance, and collision avoidance. Your mandate is to engineer robust processes and scalable algorithms to enable automated operations and ensure optimal mission performance.
Key Responsibilities
- Flight Dynamics Operations
- Develop and maintain flight dynamics tools to support mission operations from pre-launch campaigns to end of life operations
- Support payload operations planning and data processing via FDS products and automation
- Provide collision avoidance guidance to protect in-orbit spacecraft
- Constellation Maintenance
- Ensure constellation level compliance with mission requirements
- Execute and validate precision station-keeping maneuvers to preserve mission orbital requirements and support all maneuver operations
- Ground Segment Systems Integration
- Define and interface FDS requirements with cross-functional teams including Mission Design, Spacecraft Operations, Ground Software, and Payload Subsystems.
- Ensure integration with ground software, support quick software updates and maintenance
- Implement and maintain FDS data interfaces to SSA data providers and ground stations
- Collaborate with product management to ensure product and mission goals are met
- Flight Dynamics Tools
- Design, develop, and maintain scalable operational tool suites for streamlined deployment across diverse missions
- Implement and validate advanced astrodynamics algorithms to elevate mission capabilities and FDS performance
- Maintain, update, and expand astrodynamics tools and libraries
- Write high-quality, reusable Python/Java code and contribute shared libraries, templates, or workflows for team-wide use.
- Technical Leadership & Mentorship
- Provide technical guidance and design reviews for junior and mid-level Flight Dynamics engineers.
- Establish best practices for software development, documentation, and reproducibility.
Responsibilities & Duties
- Strong expertise in orbital mechanics, astrodynamics, classical dynamics, and the LEO space environment.
- Extensive knowledge of database management, cloud based architecture and automation
- Demonstrated proficiency in developing and deploying robust REST APIs for FDS/Ground Segment interaction or similar larger scale services based architectures
- Experience with mission design tools (e.g., STK, Orekit, GMAT, FreeFlyer, or equivalent).
- Advanced programming skills in Python (preferred) or Java, with experience building reusable data pipelines.
- Proven ability to lead complex analyses and make system-level design decisions.
- Strong technical documentation and communication skills
Desirable Skills & Certifications
- Experience across the full lifecycle of LEO spacecraft missions.
- Familiarity with version control systems (Git) and collaborative development workflows.
- Experience with the full operational lifecycle, including mission support, code parallelization, unit testing, and CI/CD pipelines.
- Experience using SPICE toolkits with Python
Would be great if you have
- Familiarity with satellite operations
- Familiarity with software development tools such as version control (Git/GitHub), Jira is preferred
- Knowledge or experience in any of the following would be a plus
- Code parallelisation
- Unit tests, CI
- Knowledge of software engineering principles
- Knowledge or experience around developing REST APIs
- Knowledge or experience using SPICE toolkit
Candidate Acumen
This is for someone who is detail-oriented, and comfortable operating in a fast-paced hardware environment.
Benefits
Health insurance coverage
Unlimited leaves & flexible working hours
Role-based remote work and work-from-home benefit
Relocation assistance
Professional Mental Wellness services
Creche facility for primary caregivers (limited to India)
Employee Stock Options for all hires
About Pixxel
Pixxel is a space data company and spacecraft manufacturer redefining Earth observation with hyperspectral imaging. The company’s first three commercial hyperspectral satellites—Fireflies—deliver imagery at 5-meter resolution and 135+ spectral bands, providing 50x richer detail than traditional Earth observation systems and unlocking insights across agriculture, climate, energy, environment, and more.
Once fully deployed, Pixxel’s constellation of 18-24 satellites will capture imagery across up to 250 bands in VNIR and SWIR ranges, with a 40 km swath and daily global revisit capability. Pixxel’s most unique strength is its full-stack approach, integrating every layer of the value chain from satellite hardware and manufacturing to AI-powered analytics.
Pixxel’s satellite constellation is complemented by Aurora, its in-house Earth Observation Studio that simplifies satellite imagery analysis and democratises remote sensing for all. Designed to make hyperspectral data more accessible, Aurora by Pixxel combines high-frequency imagery with AI-powered tools to generate actionable insights, even for users without technical backgrounds. The third pillar of Pixxel’s ecosystem is its in-house satellite manufacturing capability. Beyond building its own spacecraft, Pixxel also provides satellite systems and subsystems to other organisations. This dual capacity sets it apart in a sector where most companies focus on either payload design or data operations, but not both.
Pixxel’s team is young but deeply mission-aligned, with a culture rooted in curiosity, speed, and long-term thinking. As the company grows its constellation and expands Aurora, the focus remains on making space-based insights practical, scalable, and genuinely helpful so that the health of the planet becomes measurable and action becomes possible.
Pixxel was the only Indian startup selected for the Techstars Starburst Space Accelerator in Los Angeles and has been recognised in TIME’s Best Inventions of 2023, Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies, and Via Satellite’s Top Innovators list.
For more information, see our Careers page or follow Pixxel on LinkedIn and X/Twitter.
Culture
Pixxel is an organization where we enable our employees to work on world-changing problems that they are passionate about, and a place where they can be their best selves day in and day out while ensuring they have fun every day.
Central to our employee-first ethos is a commitment to ensuring that every team member feels valued and heard. We nurture a healthy and supportive work environment where we prioritise well-being and growth in all aspects of life
Link to Pixxel in Media
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