GNC Engineer II — Mission Formulation & Trajectory Design

Rocket Lab USA; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Rocket Lab USA is seeking a GNC Engineer II to join the Mission Formulation team in Long Beach, CA. You will perform trajectory design, GNC analyses, and mission studies for launch programs, collaborating with multiple engineering groups to define and implement robust flight solutions.

Ideal candidates have 2+ years in GNC/ADCS, understanding of orbital mechanics, and experience with real-time control algorithms. A Secret clearance or ability to obtain one is required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and 2+ years of industry experience in GNC/ADCS.
• 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

GNC/ADCS

Orbital mechanics

Control systems

Trajectory optimization

Real-time control

Security clearance

Education

Bachelor's degree in GNC/ADCS

Tools

Python development

Git version control

Job description

Rocket Lab USA is seeking a GNC Engineer II to join the Mission Formulation team in Long Beach, CA. You will perform trajectory design, GNC analyses, and mission studies for launch programs, collaborating with multiple engineering groups to define and implement robust flight solutions.

Ideal candidates have 2+ years in GNC/ADCS, understanding of orbital mechanics, and experience with real-time control algorithms. A Secret clearance or ability to obtain one is required.