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Reflect Orbital is seeking a Principal GNC (Guidance, Navigation, and Control) Engineer to lead the development of guidance, navigation, and control systems for a novel space vehicle designed to reflect sunlight to the ground. This is a full-stack GNC role spanning vehicle-level dynamics, orbit propagation, flight software, and hardware-in-the-loop testing.
Key responsibilities include:
- Designing and developing closed-loop guidance, navigation, and control systems for both attitude and orbital control
- Creating trajectory and attitude motion profiles that meet spot-serving constraints
- Developing and owning a 6-DOF simulation of vehicle attitude and orbital dynamics, with Monte Carlo performance characterization
- Writing GNC algorithms in flight software (C++/Rust) and validating them using avionics-in-the-loop testing
- Collaborating with avionics engineers on sensor and actuator selection for reliable attitude determination and control
- Analyzing and planning orbits and constellation design to maximize spot-serving capability
- Supporting real-time spacecraft operations from commissioning through on-orbit anomaly resolution
The role offers significant technical ownership and the opportunity to directly shape in-orbit performance of a cutting-edge space vehicle. You will work in a fast-paced environment with substantial autonomy and the ability to drive technical decisions across multiple subsystems.
REQUIREMENTS:
- 10+ years of professional GNC engineering experience, ideally on spacecraft or other dynamically controlled vehicles
- Demonstrated technical ownership of a GNC subsystem that has flown, including simulation, algorithms, and flight software
- Strong background in modeling physical systems from first principles (flexible body dynamics, sensors, actuators, space environment)
- Expertise in state estimation design for attitude and orbit determination, validated in flight
- Ability to verify and validate GNC flight software in integrated environments using HITL testing
- Experience in guidance, maneuver, and constellation design (orbit selection, coverage, station-keeping)
- Experience in real-time spacecraft operations (commissioning, console operations, on-orbit anomaly resolution)
- Fluency in Python, C++, and/or Rust
The company notes that exceptional candidates with unconventional backgrounds are encouraged to apply even if they don't meet 100% of stated qualifications.
