E2E Mission Architect

SITAEL is seeking to employ an experienced and motivated Mission Analyst and Architect, who will join a dynamic and rapidly growing company making a positive contribution to the definition of ongoing and future SITAEL programs.

Role responsibility is to oversee the definition of smallsat (50-500 kg) missions and services starting from user and scientific requirements, defining their flow-down to mission requirements and to system requirements.

The feasibility and constraints of the mission shall be assessed by orbital analyses using both commercial and proprietary software, and preliminary system budgets shall be compiled.

In later phases, specific analyses to support subsystem sizing and verification are also expected.

The activity will focus on LEO missions, but knowledge of beyond LEO systems is welcome.

Working knowledge and proficiency on typical mission analysis and orbital propagation software (STK, GMAT, OREKIT, etc.) and programming environment and languages (MATLAB, python, etc.) is required.

A strong background in flight dynamics, both for orbital propagation and estimation, earth observation, and spacecraft design are essential.

A solid grasp on orbit maintenance, spacecraft propulsion is expected in addition to familiarity with payloads (especially remote sensing).

As space debris mitigation is becoming more and more relevant, also familiarity with current ESA space debris mitigation requirements and verification guidelines is important.

As well, an understanding of the E2E performance of the system is expected (including how the mission products are generated).

The candidate is also expected to occupy technical management roles within programs, especially programs focused on 0/A phases, with many interactions: both internal (with ground segment engineers, satellite architects, system engineers) and external (with clients and programs consortium partners).

Past experience in key technical management roles with interaction with ESA and other national space agencies, as well as commercial clients, is a strong plus.

Awareness of current space economy markets and design trends is also beneficial, as well as experience on Earth Observation products and value-added services.

A 3 to 5-year experience in similar roles is expected.

Responsibilities

• Review and consolidate commercial and scientific objectives
• Perform trade-offs
• Define mission requirements and contribute to the definition of system requirements
• Carry out feasibility analyses, mission design, and preliminary system sizing (orbits and revisit, subsystem budgeting, E2E performance, orbital maintenance)
• Define requirement verification methodologies and lay out test plans
• Define the concept of operations for the designed mission
• Identify constraints and critical design drivers (to both Ground and Flight segments), and define a mitigating course of action
• Contribute to the development of internal mission analysis software tools (MATLAB, java, python)
• Coordinate teams/consortiums working on ITT proposals, replies to RFIs, phase 0/A studies.

Technical Skills, Qualifications and Professional Experience

• Requirements analysis
• Strong background on flight dynamics, orbital propagation, orbit estimation, manoeuvres design for both impulsive and low thrust propulsion, requirements management
• Knowledge of at least one of the following software: STK, NASA GMAT, OREKIT
• Knowledge of at least one of the following programming languages: MATLAB, PYTHON, JAVA
• Knowledge of ESA DRAMA and space debris mitigation
• Experience in IBM DOORS is a plus (requirements management)
• Experience with Geospatial visualization tools (e.g.: Cesium, WebGIS) is a plus
• Experience on Earth Observation L2-L4 products and value-added services is a plus
• Experience with MBSE tools and approaches is a plus (Capella, CDP4, SysML, etc.)