Senior Optical Navigation Engineer
Houston, TX; Littleton, CO; Glen Burnie, MD; Phoenix, AZ; 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 multiple NASA lunar missions in development and additional private missions on our manifest, we pride ourselves in supporting NASA, 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.
KinetX Aerospace, a subsidiary of Intuitive Machines, is a trusted engineering services and product company specializing in space navigation, flight dynamics, mission operations, communications, and systems engineering. As the first private company qualified by NASA for deep-space navigation, KinetX has supported some of the world’s most complex planetary missions, including MESSENGER, New Horizons, OSIRIS-REx, Lucy, and LunaH-Map. With a proven record spanning Earth-orbiting, suborbital, commercial, international, and deep-space missions, KinetX provides end-to-end expertise from early mission design through flight operations. Its core capabilities include navigation and mission systems development, optical navigation, orbit determination, maneuver design, trajectory optimization, and constellation design and maintenance. Combined with Intuitive Machines’ spacecraft, network, and mission-operations capabilities, KinetX helps build, connect, and operate resilient space infrastructure for sustained exploration, advanced deep-space constellations, and communications networks.
About the Position:
We are seeking an experienced Optical Navigation Engineer at Level IV to provide technical leadership across our Flight Dynamics - Interplanetary team, guiding complex systems, software, and multiple mission projects.
Responsibilities:
- Oversee planning and design of multiple ground-based and on-board optical navigation and camera systems. Drive development, feasibility studies, modeling, and analysis; participate in prototype, functional, and flight testing to validate performance, reliability, safety, and flight readiness.
- Support commercial lunar programs including the NOVA lunar landers and interplanetary projects such as NASA’s OSIRIS-APEX and Lucy missions.
- Lead and perform operational analyses, camera/system calibration, observation planning, and image processing; develop planetary shape models and digital terrain maps of asteroids and the Moon.
- Coordinate analyses with industry and mission partners. Work with spacecraft subsystem engineers, scientists, and other stakeholders to define objectives, requirements, and deliverables and resolve complex system interfaces.
- Shape software strategy, architecture, and development practices across teams and programs, including flight software and analysis tools. Guide unit testing, peer review, configuration control, and long-term software capability development.
- Serve as a trusted technical resource across missions, resolving complex system-level and cross-disciplinary problems. Lead research and continuous improvement using current technologies and sound long-term engineering judgment.
- Oversee quality control, verification, and testing against specifications and applicable aerospace and safety standards. Mitigate technical risks and guide accurate execution during high-pressure mission activities.
- Oversee technical reports, system and software documentation, and presentations for the navigation team and stakeholders. Maintain accurate records of progress and technical decisions; communicate results, risks, and issues to executives.
- Lead large technical teams and multiple projects from conception through completion. Oversee plans, schedules, and budgets, optimize cost and effort, and remain accountable for project objectives and delivery.
- Perform other duties as required.
Requirements:
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree with extensive relevant engineering experience delivering complex optical navigation systems and software across multiple projects.
- Degree in Aerospace Engineering, Astrodynamics, Astronomy, Planetary Science, Optics, Physics, or related discipline.
- Extensive knowledge of multiple optical navigation disciplines, such as celestial navigation, terrain-relative navigation, observational astronomy, astrodynamics, or computer vision (classical and/or AI/ML), supported by strong software engineering skills.
- Proficiency in numerical optimization, statistical and nonlinear estimation, spacecraft systems, and attitude dynamics, with an understanding of interactions with orbit determination and trajectory design.
- Proficiency in Python and C/C++, with demonstrated software architecture and technical leadership across teams or programs, including mission-critical development and testing.
- Experience with Linux, Python package management such as Conda/mamba, and configuration management such as git.
- Demonstrated ability to resolve ambiguous, system-level problems, apply advanced techniques, and guide engineering quality, verification, and risk mitigation under operational pressure.
- Excellent technical, communication, and interpersonal skills, including multidisciplinary collaboration, customer coordination, technical documentation, and executive presentations.
- Demonstrated leadership of large work groups or teams, mentoring, and delivery of multiple projects within schedule and budget. Ability to guide technical strategy, engineering standards, and long-term capability development.
- 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, camera calibration, 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, and/or image processing toolkits such as OpenCV.
- Experience with the NAIF SPICE toolkit.
- Experience with NASA’s core Flight System (cFS) framework.
- Experience with image rendering tools such as Unreal Engine, VIRA, or vulkan.
- Experience with functional SWIL, real-time HWIL test environments, and/or physical flight or laboratory testing (such as aircraft or robotic
US EEO Statement:
Intuitive Machines is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law.
Skills Required
- Bachelor’s or master’s degree with extensive relevant engineering experience delivering complex optical navigation systems and software across multiple projects.
- Degree in aerospace engineering, astrodynamics, astronomy, planetary science, optics, physics, or a related discipline.
- Extensive knowledge of optical navigation disciplines, including celestial navigation, terrain-relative navigation, observational astronomy, astrodynamics, or computer vision.
- Strong software engineering skills with proficiency in Python and C/C++.
- Proficiency in numerical optimization, statistical and nonlinear estimation, spacecraft systems, and attitude dynamics.
- Experience with Linux, Conda or Mamba package management, and Git configuration management.
- Demonstrated software architecture and technical leadership across teams or programs involving mission-critical development and testing.
- Ability to resolve ambiguous system-level problems and guide engineering quality, verification, and risk mitigation under operational pressure.
- Excellent technical, communication, interpersonal, documentation, customer coordination, and executive presentation skills.
- Experience leading large work groups or teams, mentoring, and delivering multiple projects within schedule and budget.
- Availability to travel for team meetings and critical operations support as needed.
- Willingness to cross-train in other deep-space navigation disciplines.
- Must be a United States citizen.
- PhD in aerospace engineering, astrodynamics, astronomy, planetary science, optics, physics, or a related discipline.
- Experience with astronomical image processing, planetary shape or terrain modeling, optical systems design and testing, camera calibration, statistical estimation, deep-space mission operations, embedded software, space systems engineering, or space domain awareness.
- Experience with spacecraft flight software development.
- Experience with NASA GIANT API or OpenCV.
- Experience with the NAIF SPICE Toolkit.
- Experience with the NASA core Flight System framework.
- Experience with Unreal Engine, VIRA, or Vulkan.
- Experience with functional SWIL, real-time HWIL test environments, or physical flight or laboratory testing.
What We Do
Intuitive Machines' complete lunar program unlocks the lunar economy to explore the solar system further and gain knowledge for the progress of humanity. As the premier provider of space services and technologies, Intuitive Machines is reestablishing the United States' dominance on the ultimate high ground, the Moon. Designed by the greatest minds in spaceflight, IM's lunar program will send the first American spacecraft to the surface of the Moon since the Apollo program and send the first spacecraft ever to reach the lunar south pole.
