GNC Engineer (All Levels)
About The Position
Astrolab is The Lunar Operations Company, designing and building systems and hardware for sustained lunar operations, including rovers, power, and data networks. As a GNC Engineer, you will design, analyze, and test Guidance, Navigation, and Control algorithms for Astrolab’s lunar rover fleet. You will support development and maturation of GNC capabilities for crewed, semi-autonomous, and fully autonomous rover operations. The role owns hardware selection and characterization, algorithm development and tuning, algorithm and integrated performance analysis, and verification and validation for the GNC subsystem. You will use simulated environments and test vehicles to design, mature, and prove GNC functionality and performance. Some travel may be required.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM) related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
- 3+ years of professional experience developing Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) systems.
- Experience with Python and familiarity with C++.
Nice To Haves
- Experience developing path planning, obstacle avoidance, or similar algorithms.
- Experience designing, tuning, and testing Extended Kalman Filters for vehicle state estimation.
- Experience designing, tuning, and testing vehicle control algorithms, such as high-gain antenna pointing.
- Experience building, testing, and validating GNC simulation tools.
- Experience performing GNC performance analysis, including Monte Carlo analysis.
- Experience supporting GNC development from initial concept through flight operations.
- Experience collaborating across multidisciplinary engineering teams to mature GNC designs into flight software.
- Strong technical writing and verbal communication skills.
Responsibilities
- Define GNC subsystem and algorithm requirements.
- Design, analyze, develop, tune, verify, and validate rover GNC algorithms, and support conversion of algorithm prototypes into flight software.
- Contribute to development of the GNC simulation.
- Work with avionics and other engineering teams to select GNC sensors, such as IMUs, star trackers, cameras, and LiDARs.
- Support GNC sensor characterization, calibration, and testing.
- Support development of integrated hardware/software GNC subsystem testbeds.
- Develop GNC algorithm documentation and work with the vehicle software team to convert prototypes into flight code, including supporting unit and integrated testing of flight implementations.
- Work with vehicle software, avionics, mobility, and integration and test teams to verify GNC subsystem implementation and performance.
- Support field testing of GNC software using test vehicles in varied lighting and terrain conditions.
- Develop GNC analysis and test plans and perform GNC analysis and testing on hardware-in-the-loop testbeds.
- Support vehicle integration and testing of GNC functions.
- Develop vehicle-level calibration plans and support vehicle-level calibrations.
Benefits
- Equity ownership in the company.
- Comprehensive health benefits, including medical, dental, vision, and mental health support.
- 401(k) plan with company match.
- Flexible PTO and parental leave.
- Home office setup reimbursement.
- Weekly lunch stipend, plus complimentary snacks and beverages on-site.
- Monthly on-site social hour with food and drinks.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
