Varda Space Industries
Spacecraft Systems Engineer, Flight Safety
About this role
Varda seeks a Spacecraft Systems Engineer to lead flight safety analysis and regulatory compliance for commercial reentry vehicles. You'll conduct failure mode modeling, manage FAA Part 450 authorizations, and support live mission operations as part of the Mission Assurance team.
What you'll do
- Perform flight safety analyses focusing on failure trajectories and debris field containment for each mission
- Execute regulatory strategy and safety cases for FAA launch and reentry authorizations under Part 450
- Complete vehicle-level functional hazard analyses (FHA) and failure mode and effect analyses (FMEA)
- Serve as Flight Safety responsible engineer during mission rehearsals and live recovery operations
- Establish technical safety limits and mission rules for real-time on-console operations
- Deliver vehicle-level regulatory documentation to obtain reentry licenses and FAA authorizations
What they're looking for
- Flight safety analysis and trajectory modeling
- FAA Part 450 and reentry regulatory compliance
- FMEA, FHA, and Fault Tree Analysis
- Expected casualty modeling and debris analysis
- Aerospace systems integration and interdisciplinary collaboration
- Technical communication with executives, customers, and regulators
- Mission operations and real-time safety decision-making
- Risk management methodologies
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Varda Space Industries
Varda Space Industries builds commercial spacecraft and orbital manufacturing systems for missions in low Earth orbit, including reentry capsules and satellite buses. The company is hiring mission operations engineers, software engineers (ground segment, flight, and embedded), and manufacturing engineers to develop mission-critical systems, operational infrastructure, and scalable production capabilities.
- Website
- varda.com
Likely interview questions
- Walk us through a complex engineering project you owned end-to-end—what were the critical safety considerations?
- How have you applied FMEA or FHA methodologies in an aerospace or safety-critical context?