GNC Engineer - Trajectory Design and Guidance Engineer

K2 Space•Los Angeles, CA

3d•$120,000 - $200,000

About The Position

K2 Space is hiring a GNC Engineer to drive spacecraft orbital and guidance systems, including low-thrust trajectory optimization and mission planning. The role includes conducting trade studies, developing mission planning and constellation design support for business development, and creating tools and algorithms for autonomous spacecraft operations. Within the first three months, the engineer will own development of K2’s trajectory optimization tooling and establish a software pipeline that takes a trajectory through optimality validation and burn-plan conversion, then feeds the plan into ground software for autonomous burn execution. Within six months, the engineer will develop trajectory optimization and mission design capabilities to assess how quickly and with how much fuel K2 spacecraft can travel on routes including LEO to MEO, GTO to cislunar space, and launch to Mars capture orbit. The role also includes designing and implementing core GNC algorithms, especially for on-orbit station keeping and low-thrust orbit raising. Within the first year, the engineer will support on-orbit operations of multiple spacecraft flying K2-developed trajectories. The position calls for collaboration with engineers on vehicle mission plans, development of precise orbit-determination and station-keeping algorithms, low-thrust trajectory design, and simulation and modeling tools for vehicle and GNC trade studies. The engineer will also help shape the GNC team through recruiting, interviewing, and mentoring.

Requirements

Master’s degree or higher in aerospace, electrical, or mechanical engineering, physics, or a related field.
At least 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.

Nice To Haves

Early-stage spacecraft conceptual design or clean-sheet design work.
Low-thrust station-keeping algorithm development.
Thruster sizing and algorithm implementation.
Contributions to developing a satellite constellation.
On-orbit satellite operations.
6-DOF simulation development.

Responsibilities

Collaborate with other engineers to develop a novel high-level vehicle mission plan.
Develop novel algorithms for precise orbit determination and station keeping of large structures in Earth orbit and beyond.
Design low-thrust trajectories for the vehicle to reach MEO, GEO, cislunar space, and Mars using a Hall Effect Thruster.
Develop simulation and modeling tools to support vehicle and GNC trade studies.
Recruit, interview, and mentor engineers to help shape the GNC team.
Develop trajectory optimization tooling and a pipeline to validate trajectories, convert them to burn plans, and feed them into ground software for autonomous burn execution.
Develop trajectory optimization and mission-design capabilities for spacecraft routes from LEO to MEO, GTO to cislunar space, and launch to Mars capture orbit.
Design and implement core GNC algorithms, particularly for on-orbit station keeping and low-thrust orbit raising.
Support on-orbit operations of multiple K2 spacecraft flying K2-developed trajectories.