Principal Autonomous Navigation Engineer

At Blue Origin, we envision millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth. We’re working to develop reusable, safe, and low-cost space vehicles and systems within a culture of safety, collaboration, and inclusion. This role is part of the In-Space Systems business unit, focused on addressing space infrastructure and increasing mobility on-orbit.

About the role

As a Principal Autonomous Navigation Engineer on the Astrodynamics and Trajectory eXecution (ATX) team, you will serve as the technical authority for developing autonomous onboard navigation capabilities that will define future deep space missions. While our vision is fully autonomous deep space navigation, near-term missions will rely on robust ground-based orbit determination. This role requires expertise in ground-based statistical orbit determination using radiometric measurements, applied to operational missions while leading the development of autonomous navigation systems for the future.

You will integrate optical and radiometric techniques into a coherent autonomous navigation architecture spanning ground and spacecraft, driving design from concept through flight and shaping the algorithms, software, and operational processes for Blue Origin's deep space navigation philosophy. This is a critical position for our lunar and Mars mission portfolio.

Responsibilities

• Define the end-to-end architecture for onboard autonomous orbit determination, integrating optical and radiometric measurement sources into a flight-ready navigation system for cislunar and interplanetary missions.
• Lead the development and integration of optical and radiometric measurement processing into onboard algorithms for cislunar and interplanetary missions.
• Drive the technical roadmap from concept through flight implementation, defining the path toward fully autonomous deep space navigation.
• Define the long-range strategy for onboard navigation capability maturation, particularly for deep space regimes with limited ground contact, and drive its implementation across the Blue Ring fleet.
• Support live ground-based orbit determination alongside the ATX team when operational missions require hands-on navigation support.
• Apply expertise in statistical orbit determination using radiometric and optical measurements to deliver navigation solutions for early lunar and Mars missions.
• Collaborate with GNC, avionics, flight software, systems engineering, and flight operations teams to ensure onboard navigation algorithms are properly integrated, supported by flight hardware, and validated end-to-end.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to navigation engineers; establish best practices for algorithm development, testing, and verification.
• Present results and support critical design reviews using Agile development methodologies.

Requirements

• M.S. in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related fields.
• 10+ years of proven experience in spacecraft navigation, orbit determination, or related astrodynamics disciplines.
• Demonstrated experience developing and implementing orbit determination algorithms.
• Experience with optical navigation techniques (e.g., camera calibration, optical centroiding, terrain-relative navigation, star-based navigation, landmark tracking).
• Strong fundamentals in astrodynamics, orbital mechanics, and estimation theory.
• Applied experience in navigation tools such as Monte, STK/ODTK, FreeFlyer, or GMAT.
• Experience in at least one of the following: Python, Julia, or C++.
• Demonstrated ability to define navigation requirements.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to earn trust, maintain positive and professional relationships, and contribute to a culture of inclusion.
• Must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum.

Preferred Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related fields.
• Experience with cislunar or interplanetary mission navigation.
• Experience with radiometric navigation techniques (Doppler, ranging, VLBI, or similar).
• Experience developing or deploying autonomous/onboard navigation systems in flight.
• Experience with optical navigation in deep space approach and proximity operations.
• Experience with GNC algorithm development and flight software integration.
• Experience with maneuver planning & execution.
• Experience with rendezvous & proximity operations.
• Experience leading a navigation team through design, development, and operational deployment.
• Demonstrated knowledge of the mission design lifecycle from conceptualization through operational flight.
• Experience with DevOps processes including configuration control, continuous integration/deployment, Agile methodologies, and code review.
• Previous experience with software development tooling such as Jira, git, Jenkins, Docker, and at least one IDE.
• Willingness or ability to acquire Active Top Secret (TS) / Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) security clearance with Single Scope Background Investigation (SSBI) with polygraph.

Pay

• For VA applicants: $183,193.00 - $256,469.85
• For CO applicants: $173,466.00 - $242,851.35
• Other site ranges may differ.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• Basic and supplemental life insurance.
• Paid parental leave.
• Short and long-term disability.
• 401(k) with a company match of up to 5%.
• Education Support Program.
• Stock options for all regular employees (working at least 20 hours/week).
• Paid Time Off: Up to four (4) weeks per year based on weekly scheduled hours, and up to 14 company-paid holidays.
• Dependent on role type and job level, employees may be eligible for additional benefits and bonuses.