Mission Design Engineer

Role: Mission Design Engineer

Employment Type: Full Time

Educational Qualification: Bachelors / M.Tech / MS / Ph.D in Aerospace Engineering, Physics, Controls or equivalent

Work Experience: 2+ years of industry experience

Role Description

We are seeking a passionate and innovative Mission Design Engineer to join our Mission Planning team. In this role, you will be at the forefront of shaping the future of our satellite missions. You will be responsible for the entire lifecycle of mission development, from initial concept and feasibility studies to detailed mission design and operational support. Your work will be crucial in balancing mission objectives with spacecraft capabilities and system constraints. This role requires strong analytical thinking, hands-on mission design tooling, and the ability to clearly communicate trade-offs and design decisions to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Responsibilities & Duties

• Mission & Orbit Design
• Design and optimize satellite orbits, maneuvers, and mission profiles to meet mission objectives and constraints.
• Perform orbit and constellation design, maneuver planning, coverage analysis, and revisit studies for defined mission scenarios.
• Support all mission phases including launch, commissioning, and deorbit planning.
• Interpret analysis results to provide multiple viable mission design options with clear trade-offs.
• System-Level Analysis & Trade Studies
• Conduct system-level trade studies across mission architectures, operational concepts, and spacecraft configurations.
• Perform day-in-the-life simulations, sensitivity analyses, and feasibility assessments.
• Quantitatively balance performance, cost, risk, and operational complexity.
• Clearly document trade outcomes and support technical decision-making in program and design reviews.

• Cross-Functional Systems Integration
• Collaborate closely with subsystem teams including Systems Engineering, AOCS/GNC, EPS, Propulsion, Communications, Payload, Mission Operations and Thermal.
• Translate mission objectives into mission requirements, system requirements, and operational constraints.
• Participate in subsystem design reviews and interface discussions, developing a working understanding of subsystem dependencies.
• Develop and maintain Concept of Operations (CONOPS) documentation linking mission goals to system behavior and operations.
• Mission Design Tools, Automation & Simulation
• Use mission design and analysis tools such as Orekit, STK, GMAT, FreeFlyer, or equivalent platforms.
• Develop, modify, and maintain Python (or Java) scripts to automate analyses and simulations.
• Documentation & Communication
• Produce clear technical documentation covering mission design assumptions, analyses, results, and recommendations.
• Support internal reviews, external discussions, and cross-team alignment through structured presentations and written reports
  

Required Skills

• Strong understanding of orbital mechanics, astrodynamics, classical dynamics, and the LEO environment.
• Hands-on experience with mission design and orbit simulation tools (e.g., STK, Orekit, GMAT, FreeFlyer, or custom tools).
• Programming proficiency in at least one high-level language (Python preferred; Java or JavaScript acceptable).
• Ability to independently decompose complex problems and develop structured solutions.
• Strong analytical, documentation, and communication skills
  
  

Desired Skills

• Experience with full lifecycle development of LEO spacecraft.
• Familiarity with spacecraft subsystems and their operational constraints.
• Experience with version control systems (Git).
• Exposure to project tracking and collaboration tools (e.g., Jira).
• Prior involvement in operational mission support or flight dynamics activities.
  
  

What We Look For

Systems-level thinking with attention to analytical rigor.

• Comfort working across disciplines and ambiguity.
• Ownership mindset with strong documentation and follow-through.
• Ability to balance engineering depth with practical mission constraint
  
  

Candidate Acumen

A strong desire to work in an unstructured, high-growth, fast-paced start-up 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, building a constellation of hyperspectral earth imaging satellites and the analytical tools to mine insights from that data. Pixxel's constellation is designed to provide global coverage every 24 hours and help detect, monitor, and predict global phenomena across agriculture, mining, environment and energy use cases.

Pixxel is on a mission to build a health monitor for the planet through a constellation of cutting-edge hyperspectral small satellites. This unique hyperspectral capability will be the key to unearth underlying, unseen problems that are invisible to satellites in orbit today.

Pixxel has collaborated with prominent organizations such as the Indian Space Research Organization, NASA JPL, and SpaceX among other leaders in the space industry. The organization is backed by Lightspeed, Radical Ventures, Relativity's Jordan Noone, Seraphim Capital, Ryan Johnson, Blume Ventures, Sparta LLC and Accenture among others.

Recently, Pixxel successfully raised $36 Million in its Series B funding round, with participation from new investors like Google, alongside existing investors, bringing the company's total venture funding to $71 Million.

To know more about us, visit https://www.pixxel.space.

Culture

Pixxel is an organisation 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

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