Space-Based Environmental Monitoring- Ground System Engineer

The Enterprise Effects Division (EED) drives integration of Aerospace’s strategic capabilities across the national space enterprise. The division leverages a broad array of engineering disciplines against a dynamic portfolio of programs, customers, and national challenges. EED spans the capability lifecycle from concept and architecture design to performance assessment to application of space and space-enabled capabilities.  

The Vehicle and Ground Concepts Department (VGCD) in EED provides space vehicle and ground system preliminary/conceptual design; trade and architecture analysis, modeling, process development and leadership expertise; and tool development in support of conceptual design activities across the space enterprise. As a member of VGCD, you will be designing innovative spacecraft and ground segment solutions to meet the most pressing mission needs of our US Space Force, Intelligence Community, NASA, NOAA, and commercial/international customers.   

Work Model: This position will follow an in-person work model with a minimum of 4 days per week of onsite work required at the NOAA/NESDIS HQ Offices in Silver Spring, MD or one of Aerospace’s campuses. 

What You’ll Be Doing  

• Provide concept exploration and engineering support for NOAA satellite ground system architectures supporting disaggregated observation missions 

• Lead and participate in conceptual and preliminary architecture studies and trades of ground systems capable of integrating data and services from NOAA, international partners, and commercial satellite assets 

• Evaluate ground system design and architecture concepts for multi-source data integration and participate in design reviews 

• Work with applicable program offices and technical experts across Aerospace Corporation 

• Develop tools and models that support ground system concept design, architecture trades, and interoperability analysis for heterogeneous satellite constellations 

• Mentor junior members of the organization 

What You Need to be Successful  

Minimum Requirements for Engineering Specialist: 

• Bachelor of Science degree engineering, science, or a related technical field 

• Typically, at least 6 years of engineering experience leading, developing, and working on multidisciplinary teams in the space, intelligence, and/or defense domains 

• A strong knowledge of satellite ground systems, Earth observation spacecraft systems, and systems engineering principles 

• Proven ability to work in a fast-paced environment, adapt quickly to change, and demonstrate initiative under deadlines 

• Demonstrated experience in developing ground systems concepts for satellite missions 

• Demonstrated experience in mission control, mission processing systems, or data processing architectures for space-based Earth observation systems 

• Demonstrated experience in concurrent engineering tools, processes, and methodologies 

• Demonstrated ability to work independently and conduct long-term technical studies for geographically dispersed programs 

• Available and willing to travel domestically and internationally approx. 5-10% 

• This position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a Top Secret/SCI security clearance issued by the U.S. government. U.S. citizenship is required to obtain a security clearance 

How You Can Stand Out  

It would be impressive if you have one or more of these: 

• Advanced degree in engineering, math, science, or related technical discipline 

• Demonstrated experience with cloud-based ground system architectures and offering (i.e., Amazon, Microsoft, or Oracle) for satellite operations and data processing 

• Demonstrated experience with hybrid on-premise and cloud infrastructure for Earth observation data systems 

• Demonstrated experience with ground station architectures, networks, antenna systems, and RF ground entry points for satellite downlink 

• Demonstrated experience with data interoperability standards and protocols for multi-mission, multi-source satellite data integration and Earth observation (e.g., HDF5, NetCDF, CCSDS) 

• Demonstrated experience with communications and networking architectures supporting distributed ground systems 

• Demonstrated experience with software architectures supporting satellite data processing, including microservices, APIs, and service-oriented architectures 

• Knowledge of agile and DevOps approaches for ground system software development 

• Familiarity with database technologies and distributed processing frameworks for large-scale Earth observation data 

• Demonstrated experience with data center design, operations, network maintenance, load balancing, and data coordination 

• Proficiency in simulation tools/programming languages, including one or more of: MATLAB, Python, Simulink, STK, C++, etc. 

• Experience with international partnership agreements and commercial data acquisition strategies 

• Familiarity with NOAA mission requirements and operational constraints 

• Experienced in the ethical and effective application of generative AI and LLMs to streamline workflows and enhance output quality.