[Hiring] Senior Guidance, Navigation, & Control (GNC) Engineer @K2 Space

Role Description

K2 is building the largest and highest-power satellites ever flown, unlocking performance levels previously out of reach across every orbit. If you are a motivated individual who thrives in a fast-paced environment and you're excited about contributing to the success of a groundbreaking Series C space startup, we’d love for you to apply.

As a Senior GNC engineer, you will be a core driver of the overall spacecraft GNC architecture. You will:

• Execute detailed trade studies to find new and novel ways to implement the spacecraft’s guidance, attitude control, and attitude and orbit estimation systems.
• Support the development of the control infrastructure, from discrete filter design in the time domain to thorough analysis in the frequency domain.
• Support the development of autonomous orbit raise for a vehicle to MEO and the associated navigation to support an autonomous orbit raise.
• Own and execute the Verification and Validation plan for the GNC stack, driving the system to flight readiness via a robust and thorough analysis of vehicle performance in both nominal and off nominal environments.
• Motivate thorough analysis, leading to updates to both the GNC stack and the K2 6-DOF simulation.
• Support launch and on orbit operations of the first full demonstration of the K2 spacecraft bus – the Mega.
• Support the block 2 upgrades of the GNC stack and 6-DOF sim, taking lessons learned from on orbit operations to increase the fidelity of the simulation and the vehicle performance of the GNC stack.

Qualifications

• Experience with GNC actuator or sensor sizing, selection, and system design.
• Experience with implementing attitude control and/or estimation algorithms on spacecraft.
• Experience with verification and validation of GNC flight software in an integrated environment, leveraging 6-DOF simulation and HITL testing.
• Experience with Python, Julia, C/C++, or Matlab for algorithm development, implementation, and simulation.

Requirements

• Experience with early-stage spacecraft conceptual design, i.e. “clean sheet” design work.
• Experience with control algorithm development.
• Experience with reaction wheel, control moment gyroscope, or thruster sizing and algorithm implementation.
• Experience with navigation, specifically Extended Kalman Filters.
• Experience with trajectory analysis, modeling, and mission design.
• Experience with Rust software development.

Benefits

• Base salary range for this role is $160,000 - $235,000 + equity in the company.
• Salary will be based on several factors including, but not limited to: knowledge and skills, education, and experience level.
• Comprehensive benefits package including paid time off, medical/dental/vision coverage, life insurance, paid parental leave, and many other perks.