Vega and Space Rider Flight Dynamics Engineer
Type of Appointment ( learn more) : 4 years, extendable to indefinite

Directorate: Technology, Engineering and Quality

The post is subject to rotation. At the end of the 4-year assignment, notwithstanding possible extension of the appointment, a further assignment in an ESA establishment will be considered.

Description
Vega and Space Rider Flight Dynamics Engineer, reporting to the Head of the GNC Systems Architecture Section (parent organisation unit), in the GNC, AOCS and Pointing Division, Electrical Department, Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality.

For your first assignment, you will be located at ESRIN and provide support to the Vega and Space Rider Launch System and Engineering Division, Flight Programmes Department, Directorate of Space Transportation.

Duties
This Division is responsible for managing engineering expertise in the Vega and Space Rider Integrated Project Team, supporting ESA and institutional missions, ensuring compatibility between launch systems, payloads and mission requirements. The Division is also responsible for maintaining technical consistency in the development and exploitation of the Vega-C, Vega-E and Space Rider systems, as well as for the implementation of the launch system industrial activities.

Within this context, you will serve as the focal point for all aspects relating to the flight dynamics of the Vega launcher family and Space Rider, from early mission feasibility through final mission analysis and post flight assessment. You will conduct and oversee trajectory, separation and collision avoidance analyses, support development activities, contribute to post flight analyses and anomaly investigations, maintain mission registers and technical documentation,



and develop and adapt in house flight dynamics tools to evolving launcher configurations and mission needs, in close coordination with internal ESA teams, ESTEC and industrial partners.

Your tasks and responsibilities will include:

serving as the focal point for all trajectory analyses to be performed as part the preparation of Vega missions;

supporting the GNC system development with an emphasis on guidance definition through trajectory analysis and optimisation in closed-loop;

supporting ESA and institutional customers, from the early development phases, on all aspects related to payload compatibility with the Vega launcher family, in close coordination with the experts from the Vega Integrated Project Team;

participating in Vega-C mission analyses covering the full lifecycle from early feasibility studies and activities through to final mission analyses, ensuring the compliance of mission characteristics with the launcher's qualified domain;

conducting preliminary separation and collision-avoidance analyses, based on preliminary mission inputs, to support ESA and institutional missions;

performing long-term trajectory propagation analyses, including critical reviews of industrial inputs related to no-collision and mid-term collision avoidance assessments, with particular emphasis on Vega-C dual-launch and multi-payload configurations;





supporting Vega-C post-flight mission analyses related to trajectory and separation performance, including contributions to anomaly investigations within the relevant domain and the performance of independent cross-checks where required, for example to refine internal model uncertainties;

maintaining the register of future missions and preparing bi-yearly internal reports highlighting key criticalities with respect to the launcher's qualified perimeter;

producing relevant technical documentation and presenting analysis results to ESA and institutional customers as well as to internal or external stakeholders;

maintaining, adapting and further developing in-house flight dynamics tools to accommodate new launcher characteristics and evolving mission needs, including mathematical solvers and tools for concurrent optimisation of GNC-related aspects of the space vehicle and trajectory.

Flight dynamics and analysis of launchers and re-entry vehicles

Launcher system engineering and launcher performance analysis

Trajectory analysis and optimisation, including transient flight phases and separation dynamics

Long-term trajectory propagation, collision avoidance and multi-payload mission analysis

Development, validation and maintenance of launcher flight dynamics and mission analysis tools and numerical models

Technical assessment and independent verification of industrial analyses and data

Knowledge of launcher GNC and its interfaces with propulsion, structures, operations and other system disciplines

Knowledge of the European launcher sector and the Vega launcher family

Result Orientation
Operational Efficiency
Fostering Cooperation
Relationship Manage

📌 Vega and Space Rider Flight Dynamics Engineer (Frascati)
🏢 European Space Agency
📍 Frascati