GNC Engineer I: Mission Formulation & Trajectory Design

Rocket Lab; Littleton (CO); On-site; USD 81,000 - 102,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company stock

Cash incentives

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401(k) retirement plan

Paid vacation

Paid holidays

Paid sick leave

Paid parental leave

Employee stock purchase program

Job summary

Rocket Lab, based in Long Beach, CA with a Colorado posting, is seeking a GNC Engineer I for Mission Formulation to design, model, analyze, and test guidance, navigation, and control for launches. You will perform trades studies, mission analyses, and detailed design for launch programs, including classified missions.

A strong foundation in orbital mechanics and real-time control is essential. The role involves developing GNC concepts, validating via HITL testing, and working with multiple teams

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering is required.
• Understanding of orbital mechanics and/or closed-loop control systems, preferably launch vehicles.
• Experience with trajectory optimization.
• Proven experience developing real-time control and/or estimation algorithms in autonomous vehicles, preferably launch vehicles.
• Active Secret security clearance OR ability to obtain and maintain one.

Responsibilities

• GNC contact to Business Development for proposals and mission definition.
• Launch and mission operational concept development.
• Orbital and suborbital trajectory design and analysis.
• Work with external stakeholders and customers for mission-specific requirements engineering.
• Document proposed GNC solutions and participate in design reviews with customers.
• Support hardware-in-the-loop (HITL) testing to verify trajectories, GNC, and flight code performance.
• Conduct Monte Carlo simulation analyses to define and verify launch and mission operations.
• Develop and support release of flight code for pre-launch ground testing, launch, and mission operations.
• Develop tools and processes for automating common GNC modelling and analysis tasks.

Skills

Orbital mechanics

Closed-loop control

Trajectory optimization

Real-time control

Python development

C/C++

MATLAB/SciPy

Git version control

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering

Tools

MATLAB

SciPy

Git

POST/ASTOS/TAOS

Job description

Rocket Lab, based in Long Beach, CA with a Colorado posting, is seeking a GNC Engineer I for Mission Formulation to design, model, analyze, and test guidance, navigation, and control for launches. You will perform trades studies, mission analyses, and detailed design for launch programs, including classified missions.

A strong foundation in orbital mechanics and real-time control is essential. The role involves developing GNC concepts, validating via HITL testing, and working with multiple teams