Principal Guidance, Navigation, & Control (GNC) Engineer Verified today
The Role
As Principal GNC Engineer, you will be a core driver of the overall spacecraft GNC architecture. You will execute detailed trade studies to implement the spacecraft's guidance, attitude control, and attitude and orbit estimation systems, and anticipate company needs to build infrastructure for core and future business.
In the first 3 months, you will own and execute the Verification and Validation plan for the GNC stack, driving the system to flight readiness via robust analysis of vehicle performance in nominal and off-nominal environments. You will update both the GNC stack and the K2 6-DOF simulation, with all GNC team members committing code to the simulator and owning portions of GNC flight software.
In the first 6 months, you will support launch and on-orbit operations of the Mega, K2's first full demonstration of the spacecraft bus. In parallel, you will scope and support block 2 upgrades to the GNC stack and 6-DOF simulator, taking lessons learned from on-orbit operations to increase simulation fidelity and vehicle performance.
In the first year, you will own planning and development of future tooling to support GNC in defining vehicle-level capabilities for future missions, including mission design, precision pointing and controls analysis, constellation development, and 6-DOF simulation development.
Responsibilities
- Work with other engineering leads to set direction and develop novel vehicle architecture
- Develop novel algorithms for precise pointing of very large, flexible structures in Earth orbit and beyond
- Develop novel slewing algorithms for very large, flexible structures in Earth orbit and beyond
- Develop simulation and modeling tools to support vehicle and GNC trade studies, including mission design, controls analysis, and 6-DOF simulation development
- Build the GNC organization by recruiting, hiring, and mentoring other engineers
Required Experience
- GNC actuator or sensor sizing, selection, and system design
- Implementing attitude control and/or estimation algorithms on spacecraft
- Verification and validation of GNC flight software in an integrated environment, leveraging 6-DOF simulation and HITL testing
- Early-stage spacecraft conceptual design and clean-sheet design work
- Python, Julia, C/C++, or Matlab for algorithm development, implementation, and simulation
Nice to Have
- Control algorithm development
- Reaction wheel, control moment gyroscope, or thruster sizing and algorithm implementation
- Navigation experience, specifically Extended Kalman Filters
- Trajectory analysis, modeling, and mission design
Compensation
- Base salary range: $190,000 - $260,000 + equity
- Comprehensive benefits: paid time off, medical/dental/vision, life insurance, paid parental leave, and other perks
Salary based on knowledge, skills, education, and experience level.
Export Compliance
This role requires access to ITAR-controlled information and items. You must be a U.S. person as defined by 22 C.F.R. 120.15 (U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or certain protected individuals) or otherwise eligible for a federally issued export control license.