Principal GNC Engineer Verified today
About Outpost
Outpost is an orbital logistics company building reusable Earth-return vehicles that enable in-space manufacturing, on-orbit warehousing, and 60-minute global delivery through space. The CarryAll vehicle family returns payloads from 200 kilograms to 10 metric tons, lands within 10 meters of target, and is refurbished for repeated missions.
The Role
You will own the complete GNC chain for bringing mass from orbit to a precise landing point on Earth. This spans deorbit burn targeting to hit an entry corridor, hypersonic entry management within structural and thermal limits, and guided descent to repeatably land on target at low cost.
This is not a role where you hand algorithms over a wall. You will:
- Design the guidance and estimation architecture
- Write the flight code in C++ and Python
- Put it on hardware and run hardware-in-the-loop tests
- Attend drop tests and flight campaigns
- Return with data that informs design changes
You will see your controller fly within months rather than years.
Responsibilities
- Model, design, analyze, implement and test satellite attitude determination and control (ADCS) algorithms
- Specify hardware performance including reaction wheel and torque rod sizing, sensor noise and redundancy, and fault management
- Define and own ADCS requirements in coordination with electrical and mechanical engineers
- Implement closed-loop pointing, orbit-raising, and station-keeping algorithms for flight
- Analyze platform stability to ensure low jitter of line-of-sight instruments
- Develop high-fidelity 6-degree-of-freedom satellite simulations using Python, Matlab, or C++
- Develop entry guidance, entry corridor and reachability analysis, deorbit burn targeting, and aerothermal and load-constrained trajectory shaping
- Develop Extended Kalman Filters and Unscented Kalman Filters with GNSS, IMU, air data, radar or laser altimetry, magnetometers, and optical or terrain-relative sensors; perform sensor error modeling and calibration; navigate through GNSS-denied or degraded environments including plasma blackout
Basic Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in a related technical discipline with 5+ years as a GNC or Controls professional, or Advanced degree with 3+ years as a GNC or Controls professional
- Software development experience in C++ and Python
- Experience with software tools such as Git, Jira, and CI Pipeline
- Experience implementing algorithms on real hardware (e.g. Extended Kalman Filters, LQR)
- Strong understanding of classical dynamics, modeling and simulation, classical and modern control
- Ability to work in a fast-paced, autonomously driven atmosphere
- Passion for space and the application of advanced estimation and control techniques in this domain
Additional Qualifications
- Experience implementing optimal control for burn planning
- Experience with satellite maneuvering and thruster systems
- Demonstrated project or professional experience in satellite attitude determination and control
- Experience in end-to-end development of three-axis stabilized spacecraft incorporating momentum, magnetic, and/or propulsive control
- Experience with flexible body control, orbital maneuvering, filtering, fault management, software development, and navigation filtering
Location and Work Environment
Playa Vista, California. In-person, five days per week.