GNC Engineer

About the Role

As a control systems engineer on the Starlink Guidance, Navigation, and Control team (GNC), you will apply a strong expertise in dynamics and closed loop controls to achieve robust and precise pointing on satellites, payloads, propulsion systems, and mechanisms. This role involves vehicle design trades, simulation, flight code implementation, and deploying and operating features in space.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, analysis, and implementation of electromechanical control systems (e.g., solar array actuators, antenna gimbals, high bandwidth active optics).
• Design, analysis, and implementation of satellite attitude control and momentum management systems.
• Design, analysis, and implementation of fluid and power system controls for Starlink hall thrusters.
• Optimal state estimation applied to mechanical alignment and attitude determination.
• Hardware performance specification and sizing, support for hardware iteration and firmware bring-up, design qualification, automated production screening, and performance monitoring in the fleet.
• Development and maintenance of high fidelity simulations using C++, Python, Matlab.
• Integration of simulations into collaborative analysis tools.
• Implementation, validation, unit testing, and deployment of production software (C++) pertinent to the described systems.
• Provide engineering and data review support for hardware development and network-level performance monitoring.

Requirements & Tech Stack

• Bachelor's degree in aerospace, physics, or an engineering discipline.
• Software development experience in C++.
• Experience with design and analysis of closed loop control systems.
• C++
• Python
• Matlab

Qualifications

• Master's degree or PhD in physics or an engineering discipline.
• Very strong expertise and demonstrated project or professional experience in linear closed loop controls analysis and design, including state space and frequency domain methods.
• Experience with flexible body dynamics and reduced finite element models thereof in the context of closed loop control systems analysis.
• Expertise in state estimation, Kalman filters, information filters.
• Strong expertise in embedded C++, ideally in the context of electromechanical control systems firmware.
• Strong understanding of classical rigid body dynamics, orbital mechanics, and their modeling and simulation.
• Direct experience with spacecraft operations and flight software development, testing, and deployment.
• Capable of identifying and solving complex problems in a self-directed manner.
• Passion for advancing the commercial space industry.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, autonomously driven, and demanding start-up atmosphere.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Willingness to work extended hours and weekends as needed.