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                Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) Careers


Promotional Video for "Find Your Place In Space" Panel Discussion

Find Your Place In Space Panel Discussion

**Find Your Place in Space?** Join the race to space in the exciting field of commercial space transportation! As an aerospace engineer, environmental protection specialist program manager, or management and program analyst, you will work in the exciting and innovative transportation sector and work on the latest developments for space flight, including private human space flight and space tourism. We are accepting resumes from applicants seeking challenging career opportunities.

AST focuses on aerospace applications to support its safety responsibilities through the licensing and regulating of commercial space launches and reentries, and the operation of launch and reentry sites.

Employees selected for these positions will:

Work in a unique high-performance organization to analyze and conduct safety evaluations of proposed space transportation activities. These activities involve the launch or reentry of expendable and reusable launch vehicles and operation of non-federal launch and reentry sites.
	Assess the safety of a wide variety of leading-edge technologies and systems including reusable launch vehicles and expendable launch vehicles.
	Perform safety inspections of commercial launch and launch site operations to ensure compliance with safety and regulatory requirements.
	Work with industry and other federal agencies to promote and create policies to facilitate commercial space transportation.
	Perform challenging and rewarding work on the development of public safety standards and requirements addressing new reusable and expendable launch vehicle concepts and operations, and emerging space sectors including space tourism.Commercial Space Transportation vacancies:

FAA job opportunities
	Internship opportunitiesIf you are a U.S. citizen and have education, training, or experience in one or more of these skill sets, consider AST.

AST offers:

interaction with leading "space" organizations (i.e., federal agencies, associations, and private firms);
	a dual-purpose mission committed to both safety and entrepreneurial development of the industry;
	a front row seat in an evolving industry with new technologies and new companies.Most positions are in the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C. However, other duty locations include Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida; Houston, Texas; Vandenberg Space Force Base and Los Angeles, California.
To request additional information or submit your resume, please send an email.

Commercial Space Transportation Skill Sets

Education, training or experience in one or more of these skill sets is necessary.

Aerospace Vehicle Systems

Flight Dynamics (reentry dynamics; Monte Carlo simulation, six-degree of freedom modeling; stall, including takeoff and landing, for subsonic, supersonic and hypersonic speeds)
	Command and Control (open and closed loop tests; stability analysis and testing)
	Qualification/Acceptance Testing of Vehicle and Ground Systems
	Tracking (translators and transponders for GPS, radar and other systems)
	Link Analyses (antennas, receivers, transmitters, plume attenuation)
	Propulsion (jet, solid, liquid, electric, nuclear, scram jet)
	Communication (voice, telemetry, command and control)
	Frequency Standards/Requirements/ Monitoring
	Attitude Control (cold gas, bi- and mono- propellant)
	Sensors (star, engine, system, horizon, structure)
	Health Monitoring (sensors, processors)
	Computational Fluid Dynamics
	Automatic Fail-Over Systems
	Maintenance/Inspections
	Back-up Power Supplies
	Satellite Technology
	Flight Worthiness
	Navigation
	Thermal
	LoadsSystem Safety/Quality Assurance Engineering

Aerospace Flight Safety (flight dynamics, trajectory dynamics, safety limits analyses, Monte Carlo simulation, hazards and risk analyses, range safety officer functions, range surveillance and notice requirements)
	Hazardous Materials/Explosives (modeling; inspections; radio-nuclear; dispersion modeling; toxic/hazardous materials; quantity/distance standards; solid and liquid propellant safety; ordnance testing, storage, handling, installation and transportation)
	Ground Processing Safety (security, inspections, hazardous processing standards/requirements, scheduling around hazardous processing conflicts)
	Human Factors (ergonomics, human error potentials, fatigue and rest standards)
	Human Spaceflight (spacecraft life support systems, space environment effect, space habitat design, occupant safety)
	Reliability Analysis
	Quality Assurance
	System Safety (statistics; hazard analysis; MEA, fault tree, sneak circuit and functional analysis)Structural/Mechanical Engineering

Thermal Engineering (thermal loads from equipment, launch- and reentry-induced thermal loads, thermal protection systems and capabilities, active and passive thermal control and dissipation)
	Fracture Mechanics and Fatigue
	Electromechanical Devices
	Metals and Composites
	Form, Fit and Function
	NASTRAN Modeling
	Pressure Vessels
	Maintenance
	Inspections
	HydraulicsSoftware Engineering

Artificial Intelligence/Autonomous Systems Operation
	Design, Development, Documentation and Testing
	Independent Verification and Validation
	System Safety
	SimulationMeteorology

Adverse Weather
	Forecasting
	Space Weather Issues
	Wind MeasurementsAnalysts

Budget Formulation and Execution
	Economic Analysis
	Launch Forecasting
	Managing contracts
	Overseeing administrative and management programs
	Policy and standards development
	Rulemaking development
	Space Transportation Analysis
	Workforce EngagementEnvironmental Assessment

Conducting environmental studies, to mitigate the relevant negative effects prior to making decisions and commitments
	Identifying, estimating, and evaluating the environmental impacts of existing and proposed projects
    
          Last updated: Wednesday, August 30, 2023 U.S. Department of Transportation

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