GNC Engineer

Job Description

Job Description

Today, everything we send to space is constrained by what fits inside a rocket fairing. That's a fundamental bottleneck to building more capable spacecraft. Rendezvous Robotics is solving this problem with electromagnetic self-assembling tiles: modular spacecraft components that rendezvous, dock, and latch to assemble bigger and more powerful spacecraft than anything that can be folded to fit into a rocket.

We're a small team based in Golden, Colorado, executing on a clear path from flight demonstration to our first operational systems. Our work spans hardware, software, and systems engineering. We are looking for the best people in the world who want to build the next generation of advanced spacecraft.

GNC Engineer

As a GNC Engineer, you will own guidance, navigation, and control across the full lifecycle of our spacecraft: from the individual tiles that rendezvous, dock, and latch, to the large reconfigurable vehicle they assemble into. You will define how tiles find each other and close the final meters, how a vehicle whose mass properties change with every docking de-tumbles, points, slews, and manages distributed momentum, and how all of it is estimated on board from a small suite of sensors. You will develop algorithms through analysis and simulation, implement them in the flight software stack, verify them on hardware-in-the-loop (HITL) testbeds, and fly them in space, optimizing performance every step of the way. This is an opportunity to apply expertise in dynamics, estimation, controls, orbital mechanics, and simulation to architect the GNC system, drive sensor and actuator requirements and selection, and operate spacecraft on orbit. You will collaborate with a small multi-disciplinary team across software, avionics, structures, test, and manufacturing to represent the vehicle at the system level, ultimately defining the scope and requirements for future vehicles.

Responsibilities

• Develop highly reliable, performant GNC algorithms, simulations, tools, and dashboards in C++ and Python
• Own the vehicle-level guidance, navigation, and control architecture and its concept of operations: design, implement, tune, and verify
• Develop and maintain the 6DOF simulation environment, including validated dynamics, actuator, sensor, and environment models, and use it to drive Monte Carlo verification of GNC performance and robustness
• Design guidance for rendezvous, proximity operations, and docking of individual tiles, including approach trajectories, capture-rate management, and abort and safe-mode logic
• Design navigation and state estimation for relative and absolute states, fusing rate sensors, ToF and vision sensors, magnetometers, GNSS, and other sensors, along with the associated calibration and fault detection
• Design attitude control and momentum management for the assembled spacecraft: de-tumble, pointing, slews, and desaturation for a large, reconfigurable, and potentially flexible structure whose inertia and center of mass change as tiles dock and reconfigure
• Design the electromagnetic and reaction-wheel control that brings tiles together and holds them through capture
• Lead trade studies and sizing for the GNC sensor and actuator suite (reaction wheels, magnetorquers, thrusters, star trackers, sun sensors, rate sensors, GNSS, relative-navigation sensors)
• Define vehicle-level GNC requirements and concepts of operations balancing thermal, power, momentum, communications, and fault management
• Verify algorithms end to end in simulation, on HITL testbeds, and in flight, and validate the simulation's models against test data
• Support flight operations, monitor on-orbit health and performance, lead on-orbit anomaly investigations, and drive on-orbit reliability of the GNC system

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in aerospace/mechanical/electrical engineering, physics, mathematics, robotics, or other relevant engineering discipline
• Software development experience in C++ and Python

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's or PhD in an engineering discipline or physics; 2+ years (Engineer) or 5+ years (Senior Engineer) of professional GNC experience in spacecraft or robotics
• Cradle-to-grave development of a spacecraft GNC subsystem in one or more areas: ADCS (momentum, magnetic, and propulsive control), rendezvous and proximity operations, or navigation and orbit determination
• Strong foundation in dynamics and control: rigid- and flexible-body attitude dynamics, quaternion kinematics, relative orbital motion, nonlinear and robust control, and control under time-varying or uncertain mass properties and electromagnetics
• Proficiency in state estimation: Kalman filtering (EKF/MEKF/UKF), sensor fusion for attitude and relative navigation, and orbit determination (GNSS, radio navigation, ground tracking)
• Experience with guidance and trajectory design for rendezvous, proximity operations, and docking, including safety and abort logic
• Experience building and validating 6DOF spacecraft simulations, including plant, sensor, actuator, and environment models, and using them for Monte Carlo verification
• Understanding of the on-orbit torque and disturbance environment (gravity gradient, aerodynamic, solar radiation pressure, residual dipole) and orbital mechanics
• Embedded and real-time software development experience, and experience taking algorithms from simulation to flight hardware
• Experience standing up a subsystem from a blank sheet (requirements, concept of operations, and architecture) and general familiarity with the disciplines necessary for spacecraft flight (structures, power, propulsion, avionics, flight software, dynamics, and mission operations)
• Proven ability to develop, test, and deploy algorithms for real-world space/robotic applications with proficiency in version control systems like Git
• Capable of identifying and solving complex problems with little to no supervision or direction in a fast-paced, start-up environment
• Passionate about solving hard problems, building things, and advancing the space industry
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Compensation and Benefits

GNC Engineer: $95,000.00 - 140,000.00
Senior GNC Engineer: $140,000.00 - $170,000.00

Your actual level and base salary will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: job-related knowledge and skills, education, and experience. In addition to the base salary, you may also be eligible for long-term incentives in the form of stock options. You will receive access to comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, short- and long-term disability insurance, life insurance, and paid parental leave. You may also accrue 3 weeks of paid vacation and will be eligible for 10 or more paid holidays per year. 

ITAR Requirements

To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.  

Equal Opportunity

Rendezvous Robotics is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Rendezvous Robotics is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.