Sydney, New South Wales, Australia · On-site
About Us Space Machines Company (SMC) is transforming the future of space operations with a bold mission: to deliver Roadside Assistance in Space. As orbit becomes more congested and contested, we act as the "first respo…
Skills: Orbital Mechanics, Propagation Algorithms, GMAT, STK, MATLAB
Sign up with Clera and we'll reach out the moment a role actually fits you — no more spraying applications into the void.
The Astrodynamics Engineer is responsible for designing and implementing orbital dynamics computations and integrating them into online Command and Control systems. This includes identifying orbital scenarios, optimizing orbit changes, and collaborating with the GNC team to ensure alignment with spacecraft capabilities.
Candidates must have a bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, or a related field with over 3 years of experience in orbital mechanics. Proficiency in various propagation tools and polyglot programming experience in languages such as Python, C++, or MATLAB is required.
Space Machines Company (SMC) is transforming the future of space operations with a bold mission: to deliver Roadside Assistance in Space.
As orbit becomes more congested and contested, we act as the "first responders" protecting the satellites that power life on Earth—from communications to navigation. Partnering with both commercial operators and government agencies, we're strengthening space resilience and enabling the growth of a sustainable space economy.
We're building this critical capability through hyperscale spacecraft manufacturing—delivering Optimus Viper spacecraft at mass-production economics with rapid-response capability.
The future of space is one where satellites are monitored, maintained, and protected in orbit. At SMC, we're making that future real.
Why Join UsWe're a start-up — things move fast, resources are lean, and we're building as we go.
What we offer is opportunity: to learn at speed, grow with the company, and leave your fingerprints on something that's never been done before. At Space Machines Company, engineers, innovators, and problem-solvers join forces to push the limits of what's possible.
If you want to build technology designed to protect and power humanity's future in space — and see your work make a visible impact — this is where you'll do it.
How We WorkWe are builders first.
We approach every challenge through a cycle of design, build, test, and refine — making ideas real, learning from results, and improving with each iteration.
We challenge assumptions to make sure we're solving the right problems, and we strengthen our solutions through collaboration and feedback.
We use process where it adds value and set it aside where it slows us down. There are a lot of firsts here, and we meet them with curiosity and courage.
We win as one team.
As our Astrodynamics Engineer, you play a central role in bringing efficient, flexible orbital dynamics computations to our online systems.
You spend your time analysing complex orbital scenarios, liaising with our Guidance, Navigation and Control team on approaches and options, testing and implementing best-in-breed solutions and integrating them into our online C2 systems — and shaping how we grow.
In this role, you own outcomes from end to end, including:
Orbital Scenario Identification – Identify orbital scenarios relevant to satisfying the requirements of our online Command and Control systems.
Solution Design & Testing – Design and test solutions using a broad range of approaches including analytical, numerical, hybrid propagators, third-party libraries, in-house developed algorithms, and novel techniques.
Orbit Change Optimisation – Determine the most efficient means of performing large orbit changes, trading propellant usage against the time taken to complete the orbit change. Document trade-offs and pros and cons of different approaches.
Verification & Validation – Verify and validate proposed solutions for correctness and applicability.
Systems Integration – Work with back-end engineers to integrate solutions into our online systems. Help bridge language, platform and toolkit differences between analytical solutions and production online systems. Work with front-end engineers to bring these solutions to life for our customers.
GNC Collaboration – Work closely with the Guidance, Navigation and Control team to ensure orbital mechanics solutions align with spacecraft capabilities, sensor performance, and control authority.
Staying Current – Stay current with state-of-the-art orbital mechanics analysis and emerging approaches. Evaluate new techniques and tools that could enhance our analytical capabilities or operational efficiency.
About YouYou'll thrive in this role if you bring:
A builder's mindset — turning ideas and theory into working systems through hands-on development, simulation, and testing.
An iterative approach — designing, building, testing, learning, and improving with each cycle. Comfortable with weekly integration cadence and rapid validation of new algorithms.
Collaboration and curiosity — working across disciplines and exploring beyond your own expertise. Exploring beyond your own expertise to solve novel problems in novel ways.
Adaptability and ownership — thriving in a fast-scaling, evolving environment where requirements emerge from building. Driving outcomes end to end without waiting for perfect specifications.
Proven experience:
Bonus experience:
You won't get rich quickly. But you'll get:
Competitive salary – Fair pay for hard work. Commensurate with experience and the impact you'll have.
Meaningful equity (ESOP) – Real ownership stake. Stock options that matter because you're joining early enough for them to matter. If we win, you win.
Actual leave – Annual leave plus personal/sick days. Because even warriors need to recover.
Public holidays – All of them.
And freedom. Real freedom to build, decide, and move without waiting for permission. That's not a benefit you'll find in a package description, but it's worth more than most perks on this list.
Safeguarding space for everyone Rapid response for space assets at risk
Space Machines Company (SMC) is a manufacturer of space hardware and software, with headquarters in Australia and operations in the United States, United Kingdom and India. We serve as a strategic partner to provide resilience to critical civilian and national security infrastructure for democratic nations across the Indo-Pacific and beyond. Our mission is to safeguard critical space infrastructure by providing the first integrated security platform to see threats, decide fast and respond at scale. Where spacecraft have traditionally been costly, slow to produce and require extensive effort to coordinate, SMC is developing systems that are produced at scale and operated with human-on-the-loop autonomy to drastically reduce the cost and complexity of orbital operations. Optimus Viper rapid response vehicles are engineered to be deployed at scale and manoeuvred without regret. At a unit cost orders of magnitude below conventional systems, they change the economics of space operations and enable operators to inspect, monitor, and protect assets across all orbital regimes. These mass-produced vehicles carry diverse payloads for inspection, characterisation, and protection of space infrastructure, and can be deployed individually or in coordinated groups to adapt to evolving mission requirements. Solstice OS, our AI-driven command and control platform, brings autonomy to bear on the complexity of operating at scale. By fusing data from multiple space domain awareness sources and automating mission planning, threat assessment, and vehicle coordination, Solstice OS allows smaller teams to manage larger constellations and respond to emerging situations in seconds rather than hours. As one of a handful of providers globally, and the only one outside the United States, we deliver this capability to the US, allies and partners to counter near-peer threats to the satellites that underpin communications, navigation, and economic activity.
Offices: 32/34 Lord Street, Botany, New South Wales 2019, AU · Adelaide, SA 5000, AU · Bengaluru, Karnataka, IN
View all jobs at Space Machines CompanySafeguarding space for everyone Rapid response for space assets at risk
Space Machines Company (SMC) is a manufacturer of space hardware and software, with headquarters in Australia and operations in the United States, United Kingdom and India. We serve as a strategic partner to provide resilience to critical civilian and national security infrastructure for democratic nations across the Indo-Pacific and beyond. Our mission is to safeguard critical space infrastructure by providing the first integrated security platform to see threats, decide fast and respond at scale. Where spacecraft have traditionally been costly, slow to produce and require extensive effort to coordinate, SMC is developing systems that are produced at scale and operated with human-on-the-loop autonomy to drastically reduce the cost and complexity of orbital operations. Optimus Viper rapid response vehicles are engineered to be deployed at scale and manoeuvred without regret. At a unit cost orders of magnitude below conventional systems, they change the economics of space operations and enable operators to inspect, monitor, and protect assets across all orbital regimes. These mass-produced vehicles carry diverse payloads for inspection, characterisation, and protection of space infrastructure, and can be deployed individually or in coordinated groups to adapt to evolving mission requirements. Solstice OS, our AI-driven command and control platform, brings autonomy to bear on the complexity of operating at scale. By fusing data from multiple space domain awareness sources and automating mission planning, threat assessment, and vehicle coordination, Solstice OS allows smaller teams to manage larger constellations and respond to emerging situations in seconds rather than hours. As one of a handful of providers globally, and the only one outside the United States, we deliver this capability to the US, allies and partners to counter near-peer threats to the satellites that underpin communications, navigation, and economic activity.
Offices: 32/34 Lord Street, Botany, New South Wales 2019, AU · Adelaide, SA 5000, AU · Bengaluru, Karnataka, IN
View all jobs at Space Machines Company