Mission Concept Engineer

This role is an opportunity to join a new team at Astroscale UK, focused on supporting bid and proposal activities from a technical perspective, and helping to develop new mission concepts. The role reports directly to our Chief Engineer. The role works in partnership with the systems team and the business development and product strategy teams, to align the company’s technology with market demand. As such, its essential that the candidate has a good understanding of the systems engineering role and develops a deep understanding of our missions and system designs. To do this a good general understanding of the typical subsystems of satellite missions is required.  

This role is focused on the bid writing and early analysis phases of mission. The ability to rendezvous and dock with other satellites is opening up new in-orbit services that did not previously exist. As a result of this there are many institutions and commercial companies that are exploring how to address this nascent market.  Studies are critical to Astroscale as they provide funding and enable us to advance technical solutions and lay the groundwork for future business opportunities.   

Responsibilities 

• Act as the lead technical authority for bids related to end-of-life or in-orbit servicing missions.  
  
  
  
  • Interacting with BD capture and bid teams 
  
  
  • Authoring and reviewing technical proposal elements 
  
  
  • Preparing work package descriptions, in collaboration with the relevant engineering teams. 
  
  
  • Adapting the system design from existing mission architectures to align with the needs of a new customer 
  
  
  • Reviewing and assessing inputs from systems engineers, subsystem engineers or external partners
  
  
  
  


• Act as the lead technical authority for phase 0 / A studies related to end-of-life or in-orbit servicing missions. 
  
  
  
  • Authoring and reviewing technical project documentation 
  
  
  • Performing trade-off analyses and top level system design, via interaction with the system and relevant subsystem engineering teams 
  
  
  • Adapting the system design from existing mission architectures to align with the needs of a new customer 
  
  
  • Analysing and generating system level budgets 
  
  
  • Generating initial mission timelines 
  
  
  
  


• Understand the existing Astroscale mission architecture, be aware of what developments are road mapped and how our systems will evolve 


• Support the existing missions as a system engineer, as and when needed. This could involve analysis reviews, trade-offs, or clean room testing etc. 
   

Essential Skills 

• At least 2 years experience of satellite system engineering 


• An understanding of all the critical subsystems that make up a satellite mission 


• Excellent written & communication skills and able to interact with a bid team under pressure 


• Ability to perform complicated trade-offs and present conclusions succinctly 


• Comfortable working with Microsoft office applications (word, excel, powerpoint) 

Desirable skills 

• Good understanding of attitude and orbit control subsystem. 


• Experience of satellite level AIT 


• Experience of mission operations 


• Experience with STK 


• Experience working on ESA proposals and studies 


• Ability to speak Japanese 

Benefits 

• Competitive base salary 


• Opportunity to work with a highly talented, diverse & dynamic international team with cutting edge technology 


• Flexible working around core hours in a friendly and supportive environment  


• Optional 9/75 working pattern 


• Hybrid working available (dependent on individual role requirements) 


• 25 days holiday (increasing yearly up to a maximum of 28 days) + 8 days Bank Holiday 


• Life insurance and long-term sick pay 


• Private healthcare (taxable benefit) 


• Relocation allowance 


• Visa sponsorship for employees considered 


• New state of the art office and cleanroom facility 


• Regular social events  

Location 

Astroscale UK (Harwell), with potential for some travel to Astroscale Japan (Tokyo) 

About Astroscale 

We aim to deliver cutting edge technologies that will become part of routine commercial space operations by 2030. 

Astroscale is the first private company with a vision to secure the safe and sustainable development of space for the benefit of future generations, and the only company dedicated to in-orbit servicing across all orbits. Founded in 2013, we are developing innovative and scalable solutions across the spectrum of in-orbit servicing missions, including End of Life services, Active Debris Removal, In-situ Space Situational Awareness and Life Extension Services, to create sustainable space systems and mitigate against the hazardous build-up of debris in space. 

Astroscale is an Equal Opportunities employer and embraces a diverse workforce. All qualified applicants, including minorities, women and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply. 

Note to recruitment agencies: Astroscale operates a preferred Supplier List, and we do not accept unsolicited agency approaches. Please do not forward candidate CVs or details in response to this advert, or to any Astroscale employee.