Spacecraft Engineer

About us

One team. Global challenges. Infinite opportunities. At Viasat, we're on a mission to deliver connections with the capacity to change the world. For more than 35 years, Viasat has helped shape how consumers, businesses, governments and militaries around the globe communicate. We're looking for people who think big, act fearlessly, and create an inclusive environment that drives positive impact to join our team.

What you'll do

Viasat Global Services (VGS) central business function plays a vital role managing the services that keep our business running and delivering to our customers. VGS consists of the following functions: Satellite Operations, Network Operations, Service Assurance and Capacity Fulfilment, Service Delivery, Customer Assurance, Project Management Office programmes and processes.

Viasat operates 19 geosynchronous satellites from its US and UK based Satellite Control Centres. A spacecraft engineer is required to take a responsible position as part of the Spacecraft Engineering team who perform the on-station spacecraft operations, looking after the health and performance of the satellites for Viasat current and future satellite fleets operated from the US or London.

The day-to-day

Key Responsibilities as a Spacecraft Engineer:

• To define, plan and implement operations to manage the satellite configurations to maintain their health, safety and function and could include coordinating activities among several engineering groups both within and external to the department
• To assess and report on satellite health and performance by daily monitoring of their status and monitoring of long-term trends in behaviour of on-board units
• To respond under pressure to satellite contingency situations by assessing satellite status, performing the correct triage, identifying the remedial response and directing recovery operations according to a well-defined incident management process. This requires being on an engineering on-call roster, to support calls from the Satellite Control Centre 24/7
• To diagnose problems as quickly as possible, determine the underlying root cause of incidents and identify workarounds or permanent solutions to prevent reoccurrence with the spacecraft manufacturer using techniques such as 8D, 5 whys, fault tree/fishbone analysis to get to the root cause of a problem and then to be able to identify corrective and preventive measures
• To maintain satellite operational products such as satellite telemetry and telecommand databases, including alarm limits, to support safe and efficient operations and to maintain the routine and contingency satellite control procedures and validate updates against the satellite simulator and maintain the satellite simulators to have a fully representative test bed
• To develop and maintain the reference data sets and software applications including AI and analytics applications required by the Spacecraft Engineering Department to perform the satellite health and performance monitoring, operations planning, checking and reporting to ensure early detection of problems and anomaly characterization
• To ensure any training plan and accreditation are up to date and when required, the provision of any training, definition of courseware and assessments are conducted accurately, effectively and efficiently
• To work with the Viasat Global Space Networks and spacecraft manufacturer engineering support teams to investigate anomalies and develop relevant operational solutions
• To develop and distribute reports including reporting of technical analysis findings and recommendations, anomaly resolution and problem root cause analyses, periodic satellite health and performance reports, insurance reports and any other reports required for regulatory reasons
• To work on new satellite programs on systems engineering, operations development, integration and validation activities and to support the Global Space Networks Space Systems procurement team with program reviews and support Global Space Networks Space Systems with any launch and in-orbit tests of new satellites where required
• Provide support in defining and developing satellite system and subsystem requirements for ground control system and networks for new satellite programs. This includes the development of test plans, conducting acceptance tests, planning and conducting ground to satellite compatibility tests (COMPAT/SVT) with the spacecraft manufacturer, and resolving issues
• Provide any support required to Global Space Networks Space Systems in evaluating spacecraft procurement proposals

Specific Conditions of the Role:

• The Spacecraft Engineer will be required to be part of an on-call roster and therefore should be available to provide on-call support during evenings and weekends. This may require the individual to travel to the Satellite Control Centre outside of office hours within a reasonable timeframe. Working outside of office hours may also be required occasionally to support certain planned operations
• Given the scope and responsibilities of this role, the successful candidate will need the required clearance and license approvals to access country specific export-controlled data. Successful applicants will therefore be required to provide personal information to ensure compliance with export control requirements

The successful candidate shall have US citizenship due to security and export control restrictions

• The successful candidate is expected to occasionally travel overseas

What you'll need

• Science or Engineering university degree (min. 3 years)
• Previous experience in a related field in the space industry
• Excellent communication skills in English, both written and spoken
• Ability to prioritise work to deliver the Satellite Operations divisional objectives. This requires a high degree of flexibility in planning and performing the work
• Excellent analytical skills resulting in clear and concise explanations of observations and anomalies

What will help you on the job

• Highly desirable to have experience in a satellite operations environment, preferably as an in-orbit spacecraft engineer
• Preference for a degree in a Space Engineering related subject
• Knowledge of design and operations of spacecraft subsystems, such as Power, Thermal, Attitude Control, Electrical and Chemical Propulsion, TTC and Payload subsystems
• Experience of working with one or more of the following spacecraft platforms: Lockheed Martin (preferably Series 4000), TAS Spacebus 4000, Airbus E3000 and subsequent AIRBUS generations, Boeing 702 HP and MP+, Maxar FS1300 Omega generation spacecraft
• Knowledge of one or more programming languages (Python is the preference) to perform data analysis and data manipulation for trending, anomaly prediction and classification analysis and for developing and enhancing tools for aiding spacecraft engineering processes and procedures
• General software/functional familiarity with Matlab, Excel, Tableau or similar related analytical tools,
• Knowledge of GCP Vertex AI, BigQuery, GCP Dataflow, Model Garden platform of Vertex AI to customize, and deploy machine learning models of spacecraft subsystem performance and anomaly detection and prediction plus knowledge of Jupyter Notebook and JupyterLab
• Experience of working with spacecraft manufacturers and spacecraft engineering support teams for the specification, development and implementation of satellite specific operations for at least one previous geo-synchronous satellite project
• Knowledge of the satellite design, build and AIT process

Salary range

$89,500.00 - $141,500.00 / annually.For specific work locations within San Jose, the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, the base pay range for this role is $111,000.00- $167,000.00/ annually

At Viasat, we consider many factors when it comes to compensation, including the scope of the position as well as your background and experience. Base pay may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Additional cash or stock incentives may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to a range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the position offered. Learn more about Viasat's comprehensive benefit offerings that are focused on your holistic health and wellness at https://careers.viasat.com/benefits.
EEO Statement

Viasat is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, seeking to create a welcoming and diverse environment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, marital status, genetics, age, or veteran status or any other applicable legally protected status or characteristic. If you would like to request an accommodation on the basis of disability for completing this on-line application, please click here.