Autonomy Hardware Specialist, IMU & ST-Lunar Terrain Vehicle

IMU & Star Tracker Autonomy Hardware Specialist - Lunar Terrain Vehicle

(NASA LTVS Award Contingent)

Houston, Texas OR Glen Burnie, MD

About Intuitive Machines:

Intuitive Machines is an innovative and cutting-edge space company making cislunar space accessible to both public and private customers. Our mission is to further science and exploration, communications, and economic progress from the Earth to the Moon and beyond. With the first commercial lunar landing in history, multiple NASA lunar missions in development, and additional private missions on our manifest, we pride ourselves in supporting our customers and the nation in paving the way to return humans to the surface of the Moon. Our world-class team includes experts in all aspects of spacecraft subsystems design, development, and test, on-orbit operations, and safety.

*Employment in this role is contingent upon NASA selecting Intuitive Machines as the winner of the LTVS program, scheduled for announcement later in 2025.

About The Role: (This role is posted at multiple levels, from entry to senior, with multiple openings)

Serve as the key technical authority for the LTV inertial measurement unit (IMU) and Star Tracker (ST), which together are used to track LTV's orientation.

Responsibilities

• Demonstrate expert-level first-principles understanding of all aspects of sensor operation
• Understand integrated hardware/software operation, customer requirements, and interface to hardware vendors to ensure all requirements are met
• Generate, manage, and verify requirements for all LTV IMU&ST systems
• Coordinate with hardware vendors to intimately understand their hardware and software design and make actionable insights relating to sensor accuracy, safety, and reliability
• Analyze hardware performance and produce trade studies
• Coordinate the procurement of prototype and flight hardware with purchasing staff, and maintain hardware histories for each item
• Collaborate in the development and validation of simulation models for the sensors addressing both ideal and non-ideal operation
• Write and execute test plans for all LTV IMU&ST systems
• As time allows, support other technical tasks within the autonomy team

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Physics, Engineering, Computer Science, Robotics, or related field (Master's preferred)
• Experience with IMU&ST in aerospace, defense, automotive, robotic, or mining contexts
• Experience designing and certifying IMU&ST hardware systems for safety-critical applications
• Experience building simulation models
• Familiar with high-reliability hardware standards (ISO 26262, ISO 21448, UL 4600, IEEE P2846-2022)

Language/Tool Experience

• Jira, Jama
• MATLAB, Python, or other modeling languages

EEOC

Intuitive Machines is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law.