Senior Mission Operations Manager
- Compensation
- Not disclosed
- Location
- Denver, CO
- Work setup
- Not specified
- Seniority
- Senior
- Employment
- Not specified
- Experience
- 7+ years
- Category
- Operations
- Posted
Must have
- BS in Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical, Systems Engineering, or equivalent technical field (or equivalent practical experience)
- 7+ years in aerospace or other high-stakes hardware programs, with a mix of program/project management and operations experience
- Direct experience in a mission operations, flight test, or launch environment including console time, procedure authorship, or flight-director-style real-time decision making in aerospace programs.
- Strong technical fluency. Comfortable reading ICDs, requirements, and engineering analyses, and pushing back when the plan and the physics disagree
- Track record of running cross-functional teams without formal authority and getting senior engineers to commit and deliver
- Excellent written communication: procedures, flight rules, status, and exec-level reporting that people actually trust
- High composure under pressure and sound judgment with incomplete information
- Comfort with ambiguity and bias toward action over analysis paralysis
- Ability to operate effectively in fast build-test-iterate environments with high ownership and minimal supervision
Nice to have
- Prior tour as a Flight Director, Mission Manager, Mission Director, or Lead Mission Operator on an orbital or reentry program
- Experience standing up a mission ops organization from zero: hiring, training, certifying operators, building the MOC
- Familiarity with reentry, recovery, or asset-return operations (capsule, glider, booster, or experimental vehicle)
- Working knowledge of FAA Part 450, range safety, and human-spaceflight-adjacent safety standards (SSCMAN 91-710, AFSPCMAN, NASA STD)
- Hands-on with ground-segment / MCC tooling like commanding, telemetry, mission planning, pass scheduling including KSAT or equivalent ground-network experience
- Familiarity with CCSDS, telemetry decom, and ground-segment integration
- Early-stage startup or new-program experience, especially in hardware or deep-tech companies
- Comfort building lightweight systems and processes that scale, without over-engineering them
- Military aviation, test, or operations background welcome in place of or alongside an engineering degree
Full description
The Mission
Space is the infrastructure layer for humanity’s next industrial revolution. While reusable rockets have opened the door, true economic transformation requires orbital logistics that are as accessible and reliable as commercial aviation. At Lux Aeterna, we’re building that future by developing the first fully reusable satellite platform built for reliable reentry, recovery, and rapid redeployment, transforming space from a one-way street into a two-way highway for innovation and commerce.
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The Opportunity
We are seeking an exceptional Senior Mission Operations Manager to take end-to-end ownership of Lux Aeterna’s Delphi-1 spacecraft, running it on orbit and bringing it home. This role spans mission operations leadership through commissioning, on-orbit, deorbit, reentry, and recovery.
You will be the Mission Operations Lead: building the concept of operations, standing up the mission ops team, training the console, running rehearsals, and ultimately commanding the vehicle in flight. This role will then transition into the responsible party for developing how Lux Aeterna manages fleet flight operations, from team building, process development, all the way through realization for a fleet-based satellite operating model.
This is the seat for someone who wants real ownership early and who wants to grow into the person responsible for our missions in flight.
This is a unique opportunity to:
- Own a full reusable-spacecraft mission mission operations on-orbit, reentry, recovery, and refurbishment hand-off
- Build Lux Aeterna’s mission operations function from zero: CONOPs, procedures, flight rules, and the team that flies the vehicle
- Serve as Mission Manager / Flight Director on console for first-of-kind reusable-satellite flights
- Work directly with the founders and technical leadership to shape how Lux Aeterna executes and flies missions
- Grow into the mission operations leader for the Delphi platform and follow-on programs
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Why Lux Aeterna?
- Pioneering Technology: We’re developing the first reusable satellite platform with controlled return capability, fundamentally transforming space from a one-way journey to a two-way highway
- Real Impact: Your work will enable new industries in space manufacturing, research, and logistics while pioneering sustainable space infrastructure
- Speed & Autonomy: We maintain parallel hardware development streams and empower engineers to innovate rapidly while upholding rigorous aerospace standards
- World-Class Team: Work alongside experts from leading aerospace companies and research institutions, building technology that will reshape humanity’s access to space