Autonomous Spacecraft GNC Engineer

Actalent; Torrance (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare

Dental

Vision

HSA

401k

Sick pay

PTO

Holiday pay

Job summary

Actalent in Torrance, CA seeks a GNC Engineer to architect, implement, and validate flight-critical algorithms for autonomous rendezvous, proximity operations, formation flying, and precision maneuvering. The role requires deep control theory, state estimation, and hardware-in-the-loop experience with C/C++ and Python.

Minimum 5+ years in spacecraft or autonomous systems GNC, with a BS/MS in engineering and U.S. citizenship/ability to obtain TS/SCI.

Qualifications

• B.S. or M.S. in Aerospace, Mechanical, or Electrical Engineering, or related discipline.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and tune GNC algorithms for relative motion, formation flying, and autonomous RPO.
• Develop and validate attitude determination and control systems (ADCS) and orbit determination filters.
• Model and simulate orbital dynamics, spacecraft trajectories, and environmental disturbances.
• Perform state estimation and sensor fusion using IMUs, GPS, star trackers, LiDAR, and optical navigation sensors.
• Integrate GNC algorithms into embedded flight software and test in HIL and flight-like environments.
• Conduct Monte Carlo analysis and performance verification under uncertainty and failure scenarios.
• Collaborate with systems, avionics, and autonomy teams to deliver mission‑ready architectures.

Skills

Kalman filtering

nonlinear control

state estimation

GNC algorithms

embedded flight software

sensor fusion

Education

B.S./M.S. in Aerospace, Mechanical, or Electrical Engineering

Tools

MATLAB/Simulink

Python

C/C++

Job description

Actalent in Torrance, CA seeks a GNC Engineer to architect, implement, and validate flight-critical algorithms for autonomous rendezvous, proximity operations, formation flying, and precision maneuvering. The role requires deep control theory, state estimation, and hardware-in-the-loop experience with C/C++ and Python.

Minimum 5+ years in spacecraft or autonomous systems GNC, with a BS/MS in engineering and U.S. citizenship/ability to obtain TS/SCI.