Senior Physical Scientist

<p><strong>Why LeoLabs?</strong></p> <p>At LeoLabs, we’re building the living map of activity in space. Through our proprietary global radar network and AI-enabled analytics platform, we collect millions of measurements daily on more than 25,000 objects in low Earth orbit (LEO). Our radar-powered intelligence protects billions in assets, monitors adversarial behavior, and ensures safe operations for commercial and government missions.</p> <p>We’re not just building technology, we are redefining global security, safety, and transparency in space. As orbital activity accelerates and threats grow more complex, LeoLabs is a trusted partner for Space Domain Awareness, Space Traffic Management, and Satellite Operations for top-tier space operators and allied defense organizations.</p> <p>If you're looking to work on mission-critical challenges at the forefront of aerospace, national security, and AI, your impact starts here.</p> <h3>Role Overview</h3> <p>LeoLabs is seeking a talented individual to join our Catalog team as a<strong> Senior Physical Scientist</strong>. This role is intentionally multi-focused: it sits at the intersection of astrodynamics, statistical estimation, and production software, and is designed for a hands-on subject matter expert who is equally comfortable developing algorithms, supporting operational systems, and shaping technical direction.</p> <p> </p> <p>The Catalog team’s mission is to build and maintain the world’s most accurate independent catalog of objects in low Earth orbit using data from LeoLabs sensors and partners. Our systems operate continuously in production, integrating radar scheduling, measurement association, orbit determination and propagation, and new object discovery at scale. As a Senior Physical Scientist, you will be expected to bring deep domain expertise to these problems—owning critical components of the pipeline, diagnosing complex behaviors, and guiding improvements grounded in first principles.</p> <p> </p> <p>This role is for a scientist-engineer who understands the physics and statistics behind complex data pipelines, can translate that understanding into reliable, maintainable software, and can apply it in an operational environment where correctness, robustness, and timeliness matter. You will contribute through algorithm development, operational support, and automation, while also providing technical leadership through design input, mentorship, and cross-team collaboration.</p> <p> </p> <h3>Key Responsibilities</h3> <h4>Orbit Determination Operations</h4> <ul> <li>Analyze and refine physical models to improve orbit determination accuracy and precision.</li> <li>Maintain and improve the radar scheduling and measurement association systems, balancing physical fidelity, statistical robustness, and operational constraints.</li> <li>Support launch and early operations (LEOP), including time-critical troubleshooting and object cataloging.</li> <li>Interface with satellite operators and internal stakeholders to tune system performance and resolve operational issues.</li> </ul> <h4>Software Engineering</h4> <ul> <li>Design automation for object observation, association, cataloging, and data quality monitoring to reduce manual intervention.</li> <li>Contribute to scaling systems for <strong>real-time operation on large data sets</strong><strong>, </strong>ensuring algorithms and models remain valid as scale and complexity increase.</li> <li>Develop and maintain <strong>production scientific software</strong> in Python, translating physical and statistical models into reliable, testable code.</li> <li>Contribute to CI/CD pipelines, containerized deployments, and automated testing.</li> </ul> <h3>Required Qualifications</h3> <ul> <li>S. (M.S. or Ph.D. preferred) in Astrodynamics, Aerospace Engineering, Physics, or a related technical field.</li> <li><strong>3–6+ years</strong> of experience in orbit determination, numerical modeling, data analysis, or machine learning.</li> <li>Stro ... (truncated, view full listing at source)