GNC Engineer - Trajectory Design and Guidance Engineer

Los Angelesfull timeOn Site

Apply on Employer Site

entry

$120k–$200k

H1B: no

K2 Space The GNC Engineer at K2 Space will drive spacecraft orbital and guidance systems development, focusing on low thrust trajectory optimization and mission planning. This role includes developing trajectory optimization tooling and core GNC algorithms for station keeping and orbit raising.

Responsibilities

In the first 3 months, you will own and execute the development of the K2 trajectory optimization tooling, standing up the software pipeline to take a trajectory, prove optimality, convert to burn plans, and feed into the K2 ground software for autonomous burn execution. In the first 6 months you will develop the trajectory optimization and mission design capabilities to define how, how fast, and on how much fuel K2 can fly the Mega and Giga spacecraft from LEO to MEO, GTO to cislunar, from launch to a Mars capture orbit. In the first 6 months you will design and implement the core GNC algorithms that fly the spacecraft, with a particular focus on algorithms for on orbit station keeping and low thrust orbit raise. In the first year, you will support on orbit operations of multiple K2 spacecraft flying multiple different K2 developed trajectories.
Collaborate with other engineers to develop a novel high level vehicle mission plan
Develop novel algorithms for precise OD and station-keeping of very large structures in earth orbit and beyond
Leveraging one of the largest Hall Effect Thrusters ever manufactured, design the low thrust trajectory for the vehicle to reach MEO, GEO, Cis-Lunar, and Mars.
Develop simulation and modeling tools to support vehicle and GNC trade studies
Shape the future of the GNC team by recruiting, interviewing, and mentoring the engineers

Qualification

Master’s degree or higher in aerospaceProficiency in PythonOn-orbit satellite operations6-DOF simulation development

Required

Master’s degree or higher in aerospace, electrical, or mechanical engineering, physics, or a related field
2+ years of experience in low-thrust trajectory design
Hands-on work with precise orbit determination
Track record implementing orbit guidance and control algorithms on a spacecraft
Mission design expertise for both Earth-centric and interplanetary missions
Proficiency in Python, Julia, C/C++, or Rust for algorithm development, implementation, and simulation