Staff Engineer, Constellation Operations

Staff Engineer, Constellation Operations

About Us:

BlackSky is a real-time intelligence company. We own and operate the world's most advanced space-based intelligence platform and provide customers satellite imagery, automated analytics and high-frequency monitoring of strategic locations, economic assets and events from around the globe. BlackSky is trusted by the most demanding allied military and intelligence organizations and commercial companies to deliver foresight into critical matters that affect national security and the economy. BlackSky's data enables governments and businesses to see, understand and anticipate change as it happens, giving them the ultimate strategic advantage so they can act quickly. Our global team works with cutting-edge technology to make a difference around the world and prides itself on being people-first, customer-focused and fun.

As a part of our Constellation Operations Engineering team, your responsibilities are expected to be wide ranging, spanning many different aspects of the constellation architecture including satellite systems, ground stations, and ground software. Specifically, you will train to operate the satellites while providing recommendations on operations procedure and process improvement from previous space industry experience. In this role, you will help ensure successful on-orbit satellite commissioning by serving on-console during launch and early operations activities. Your efforts to review telemetry and spacecraft logs will lead to anomaly investigation and resolution, as well as execution of routine maintenance across the constellation. You will conduct testing on virtual ground assets to prove concepts of operation and safety of commands before tasking satellites on orbit. With basic Python skills, you will begin contributing to a growing repository of software tools designed to streamline operations, reduce human-error and optimize constellation performance. This position reports to the Manager, Constellation Operations and will support our Seattle, WA office with a flexibility for hybrid schedule.

Responsibilities:

• Rapidly learn our Constellation architecture, including spacecraft bus, flight software, ground network and ground control software throughout BlackSky's training and qualification program.
• Participate in technical efforts for on-orbit operations, including launch and early operations (LEOP), routine maintenance, and anomaly response.
• Investigate anomalies through telemetry trending and review, as well as execute Bench Testing and Maintenance tickets as assigned in Jira.
• Perform daily spacecraft health trending activities, including constellation data review, system log review, imaging performance and ground automation performance.
• Design, manage, and lead operations software tooling development in Python. This includes data trending tools, automated constellation performance review, key performance metr