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Salary: USD 131,494 - 184,026 / annual
Varda Space Industries is accelerating commercial space infrastructure development, from in-orbit pharmaceutical processing to reliable reentry capsules. The company designs, builds, and operates its W-Series vehicles in-house, including pharmaceutical processing payloads, capsules, C-PICA heat shields, and satellite buses. Varda is headquartered in El Segundo, California, with additional offices in Washington, DC and Huntsville, AL.
As a Spacecraft Guidance, Navigation, and Controls (GNC) Engineer, you will own the full life cycle of GNC development at Varda, from design through unit testing, hardware-in-the-loop integration, on-vehicle functionality, and flight testing. You will perform system analyses including simulations and Monte Carlo studies to satisfy specifications and drive system-level architectural and business decisions. You will contribute to a sophisticated multi-degree-of-freedom in-house aerospace simulation and test framework, develop and maintain design descriptions and supporting documentation, and see end-to-end execution of the GNC subsystem from initial analysis and design through vehicle integration, mission planning, flight operations, and on-orbit and reentry mission support.
Key responsibilities include:
- ADCS hardware performance specification including sizing of reaction wheels, torque rods, IMU/GPS, and star trackers
- Design and implementation of autonomous satellite attitude control, collision avoidance, orbital rendezvous, burn planning, and atmospheric reentry algorithms
- Trajectory design, optimization, and dispersion analysis for space capsule reentry
- Development of 6 degree-of-freedom vehicle simulation using C++, Python, and MATLAB/Simulink
- Monte Carlo analysis to characterize performance of new vehicle and mission capabilities
- Integration and testing of GNC sensors, actuators, and software in hardware-in-the-loop environments
- Design and implementation of ground tooling for automated maneuver planning and scheduling
- Monitoring on-orbit system performance and troubleshooting
- Coordination with other spacecraft operators, third-party agencies, and the US government
Varda was founded in January 2021 by Will Bruey and Delian Asparouhov with backing from Khosla Ventures, Lux Capital, Founders Fund, Caffeinated Capital, General Catalyst, and Also Capital. The team includes veterans from SpaceX, Blue Origin, major pharmaceutical companies, and Silicon Valley.
Requirements:
- B.S. degree in aerospace, mechanical, electrical engineering, physics, or related field (or PhD with 1+ years of relevant experience)
- 1–3 proven years of experience in aerospace guidance, navigation, and control systems (design, modeling, testing, and flight)
- Highly adept software and model development skills, particularly in C++ and Python
- Understanding of orbital mechanics, modeling and simulation, and software development
- Experience anchoring and fitting first-principles models to test data or high-fidelity external simulations
- Proven system engineering and configuration management skills
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
Preferred qualifications:
- Master's degree in engineering or physics
- Experience with spacecraft attitude determination and control system (ADCS) design
- Experience with GMAT, POST2, or similar trajectory/mission design tools
- Understanding of multi-body dynamics, flexible body dynamics, gas dynamics, fluids, and thermodynamics
- Experience developing and verifying physical models for control design, component sizing, and system performance evaluation
- Experience supporting safety-critical flight tests or spacecraft operations
- Ability to manage risk and provide solutions using lean and state-of-the-art software development techniques
ITAR Requirement: Must be a U.S. person (U.S. citizen, U.S. lawful permanent resident, or individual admitted as a refugee or granted asylum) due to access to export-controlled items.
