GNC Engineer, ADCS (Starlink)

SpaceX was founded under the belief that a future where humanity is out exploring the stars is fundamentally more exciting than one where we are not. Today SpaceX is actively developing the technologies to make this possible, with the ultimate goal of enabling human life on Mars.

GNC ENGINEER, ADCS (STARLINK)

SpaceX is looking for engineers with backgrounds in orbital mechanics, control theory, state estimation, spacecraft systems design, optimization, physics, and software development to join the Starlink guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) team. Come help us write the autopilot algorithms for thousands of satellites (the world's largest constellation!) and more than two million user terminals, enabling access to high-speed broadband internet in all corners of the world.

As a Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) engineer on Starlink’s attitude determination and control systems (ADCS) team, you will be responsible for the software automation, operations, and system level design which keeps the satellites and their payloads properly oriented for the entire mission lifetime.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Develop highly reliable and performant GNC algorithms, simulations, tools, services, and dashboards using C++ or Python; Starlink GNC Engineers write actual production code, not just prototypes for transcription by another team

• Participate in architecture, design, and code reviews

• Bulk data analysis to review performance data from various elements of the Starlink constellation and network

• Write high quality technical documentation of programs, algorithms, or analysis

• Design and implementation of GNC software that can facilitate all mission concepts of operations across all phases of mission, including off-nominal/contingency scenarios

• Design of concepts of operations (CONOPs) that intelligently balance thermal constraints, power budgets, momentum management, communications, and payload-pointing needs

• Design, development, and flight software implementation of onboard GNC algorithms to achieve a high level of vehicle autonomy and fault tolerance while providing adequate translational and rotational navigation and control performance

• Update and maintain GNC software configurations for a variety of minor vehicle design revisions and mission sets

• High fidelity time domain 6DOF modeling and simulation of vehicle dynamics, sensors, actuators, algorithms, and all of their interactions

• Monte Carlo simulation analysis to validate safe and reliable flight and quantify navigation and control performance

• Heavy involvement in hardware-in-the-loop (HITL) testing efforts, including but not limited to test case design, data review automation, and modeling fidelity improvements

• Translational and Rotational state estimation and control systems design and optimization

• Vehicle design activities related to ADCS sensor and actuator hardware sizing and layout

• Develop, validate, and improve upon complex sensor, actuator, and