GNC Engineer - Trajectory Design and Guidance Engineer

K2 Space; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity in company

Medical, dental, vision

Paid time off

Job summary

K2 Space in Los Angeles is seeking a GNC Engineer - Trajectory Design and Guidance to drive orbital and guidance systems for Mega satellites. You will develop low-thrust trajectory optimization, perform trade studies, and contribute to mission planning and constellation design.

In 6–12 months you will build trajectory optimization tooling, enable burn planning, and advance GNC algorithms for on-orbit maintenance and interplanetary legs.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree or higher in aerospace, electrical, or mechanical engineering, physics, or a related field.
• 2+ years of experience in low-thrust trajectory design.
• Hands-on work with precise orbit determination.
• Track record implementing orbit guidance and control algorithms on a spacecraft.
• Mission design expertise for Earth-centric and interplanetary missions.
• Proficiency in Python, Julia, C/C++, or Rust for algorithm development, implementation, and simulation.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with other engineers to develop a novel high level vehicle mission plan.
• Develop novel algorithms for precise OD and station-keeping of very large structures in earth orbit and beyond.
• Design the low thrust trajectory for the vehicle to reach MEO, GEO, Cis-Lunar, and Mars using Hall Effect Thrusters.
• Develop simulation and modeling tools to support vehicle and GNC trade studies.
• Shape the future of the GNC team by recruiting, interviewing, and mentoring the engineers.

Skills

Low-thrust design

Orbit determination

GNC algorithms

Python

Julia

C/C++

Rust

Education

Master’s degree or higher

Job description

GNC Engineer - Trajectory Design and Guidance Engineer

K2 is building the largest and highest-power satellites ever flown, unlocking performance levels previously out of reach across every orbit. Backed by over $1 billion in total funding from leading investors including Altimeter Capital, ICONIQ, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Redpoint Ventures, and T. Rowe Price — and with over $1 billion in signed contracts across commercial and US government customers, we're mass-producing the highest-power satellite platforms ever built for missions from LEO to deep space.

The rise of heavy-lift launch vehicles is shifting the industry from an era of mass constraint to one of mass abundance, and we believe this new era demands a fundamentally different class of spacecraft. Engineered to survive the harshest radiation environments and to fully capitalize on today's and tomorrow's massive rockets, K2 satellites deliver unmatched capability at constellation scale and across multiple orbits.

With multiple launches in 2027 and plans to scale to 100 satellites a year, we're Building Bigger — helping develop the solar system and build toward a Kardashev Type II (K2) civilization.

The Role

You will be the core driver of the spacecraft’s orbital and guidance systems – including low thrust trajectory optimization and mission planning, while executing detailed trade studies to find new and novel ways to implement these strategies, and supporting business development in mission planning and constellation design.

In the first 3 months, you will own and execute the development of the K2 trajectory optimization tooling, standing up the software pipeline to take a trajectory, prove optimality, convert to burn plans, and feed into the K2 ground software for autonomous burn execution. In the first 6 months you will develop the trajectory optimization and mission design capabilities to define how, how fast, and on how much fuel K2 can fly the Mega and Giga spacecraft from LEO to MEO, GTO to cislunar, from launch to a Mars capture orbit. In the first 6 months you will design and implement the core GNC algorithms that fly the spacecraft, with a particular focus on algorithms for on orbit station keeping and low thrust orbit raise. In the first year, you will support on orbit operations of multiple K2 spacecraft flying multiple different K2 developed trajectories.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with other engineers to develop a novel high level vehicle mission plan
• Develop novel algorithms for precise OD and station-keeping of very large structures in earth orbit and beyond
• Leveraging one of the largest Hall Effect Thrusters ever manufactured, design the low thrust trajectory for the vehicle to reach MEO, GEO, Cis-Lunar, and Mars.
• Develop simulation and modeling tools to support vehicle and GNC trade studies
• Shape the future of the GNC team by recruiting, interviewing, and mentoring the engineers

Qualifications

• Master’s degree or higher in aerospace, electrical, or mechanical engineering, physics, or a related field
• 2+ years of experience in low-thrust trajectory design
• Hands-on work with precise orbit determination
• Track record implementing orbit guidance and control algorithms on a spacecraft
• Mission design expertise for both Earth-centric and interplanetary missions
• Proficiency in Python, Julia, C/C++, or Rust for algorithm development, implementation, and simulation

Nice to Have

• Low-thrust station-keeping algorithm development
• Thruster sizing and algorithm implementation
• Contributions to developing a satellite constellation
• On-orbit satellite operations

Compensation and Benefits:

• Base salary range for this role is $120,000 - $200,000 + equity in the company
• Salary will be based on several factors including, but not limited to: knowledge and skills, education, and experience level
• Comprehensive benefits package including paid time off, medical/dental/vision coverage, life insurance, paid parental leave, and many other perks

Building a spacecraft unlike any other requires a team unlike any other and non-traditional career twists and turns are encouraged!

If you need a reasonable accommodation as part of your application for employment or interviews with us, please let us know.

Export Compliance

As defined in the ITAR, “U.S. Persons” include U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (i.e., Green Card holders), and certain protected individuals (e.g., refugees/asylees, American Samoans). Please consult with a knowledgeable advisor if you are unsure whether you are a “U.S. Person.”

The person hired for this role will have access to information and items controlled by U.S. export control regulations, including the export control regulations outlined in the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR). The person hired for this role must therefore either be a “U.S. person” as defined by 22 C.F.R. § 120.15 or otherwise eligible for a federally issued export control license.

K2 Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with K2 Space is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file.

As set forth in K2 Space ’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

• A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.
• A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.
• An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.
• An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Why are you being asked to complete this form? We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

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