LinQuest is seeking a Senior Orbital Analyst to join our team at Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque, NM. LinQuest operates a variety of satellites for the U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) under the STEC contract at Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque, NM. The STEC contract supports on-orbit operations of eight unique satellites, with more scheduled to launch over the next 3 years. We are looking for high quality, motivated professionals to join our team.
 

This position supports satellite operations at the RDT&E Support Complex (RSC) on Kirtland AFB, performing orbit analysis and provide satellite mission engineering support to a variety of satellites in Low Earth, Medium, and Geosynchronous Orbits.

This person is responsible for ensuring accurate determination of spacecraft orbits, collision avoidance (COLA) analysis and plans, maneuver planning, scripting to automate tasks, identification of solar and lunar intrusion conditions on spacecraft sensors, generation of satellite event tables and evaluation of future orbit software and systems.

As the Sr. OA this person would be responsible for training/overseeing a team of OAs to perform orbital determination and related analysis. The position supports a 24/7 operations center. The position may require periodic shift work and availability for on-call support.

Responsibilities

• Oversee a team of orbital analysts; provide training/mentoring to new analysts
• Ensure work performance of the team meets/exceeds standards
• Maintain accurate tracking station pointing data
• Maintain accurate satellite ephemeris and support data
• Maintain satellite position and attitude within specifications
• Conduct routine orbit determination and prediction
• Produce antenna viewing angle, sun and lunar eclipse reports
• Predict sensor intrusions
• Perform maneuver modeling, planning, execution, and verification           
• Interface with Air Force customer, space vehicle factory support, Aerospace Corp. and others. 
• Coordinate with operations personnel on issues related to orbit determination and ephemeris generation, orbital position uncertainty estimates, collision prediction and maneuver design

Required Skills and Experience

• Must have an active TS/SCI clearance to be considered for this position 
• BS Degree in a technical field, or equivalent experience
• 10 years or more experience in one or more of the following: orbit determination/orbit prediction, maneuver modeling, planning, formation flying assessment
• Knowledge of flight dynamics software, thruster modeling, and satellite attitude control systems
• Ability to create and follow standard processes, and document results
• Good organizational skills and the ability to handle multi-tasking
• Knowledge and ability to adjust analytical processes to address unique situations/events
• Ability to work in an environment with rapidly changing mission requirements
• Professionalism, teamwork, and interpersonal skills

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Experience in satellite operations or mission engineering support
• Knowledge of satellite ground control systems, Air Force Satellite Control Network (AFSCN)
• Development of in-house software tools and processes and practices to reduce operator workload. Experience with coding languages such as Matlab, Perl, VBScript, VBA Scripting.
• Experience providing analyst or engineering support on one or more satellite subsystems
• 15 or more years’ experience in satellite operations and orbital analysis