Orbit-Ready GN&C Guidance & Flight Controls Engineer

Blue Origin LLC; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 197,529 - 276,540; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision

401(k) with company match

Education Support Program

Stock Options

Paid Time Off

Parental Leave

Job summary

Blue Origin LLC in Greater Seattle seeks a GN&C Guidance and Flight Controls Engineer for the Lunar Permanence program. You will derive guidance designs from mission trajectories, coordinate performance with mission planning, and develop algorithms for Earth and cis-lunar orbiter maneuvers including rendezvous and docking.

You’ll implement control laws and test in SIL/HIL environments, collaborating across subsystems to ensure design closure.

Qualifications

• B.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering or Physics with 12+ years of experience or M.S. with 10+ years of experience.
• Deep knowledge of astrodynamics, orbital mechanics, attitude kinematics and dynamics.
• Demonstrated subject matter expertise in spacecraft guidance, including maneuver planning, targeting, and optimization.
• Established background in GN&C algorithm development specifically for flight and attitude control using classical and modern control methods.
• Knowledgeable in frequency domain analysis techniques.
• Robust understanding of controller stability derivatives and stability margins with respect to spacecraft dynamics, flexible body dynamics, and slosh dynamics.
• Demonstrated experience with control law design for aerospace vehicles.
• Familiarity with development of requirements, interfaces, trades and analyses for aerospace GN&C applications.
• Understand the relationship between attitude control, vehicle configuration, spacecraft dynamics, actuators, sensors, and automation.
• Hands-on development with C/C++.
• Experience with collaboration tools such as Gitlab, Confluence, and JIRA.
• Strong grasp of software and data configuration management techniques and tools.
• Highly organized teammate with excellent technical written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to earn trust, maintain positive and professional relationships, and give to a culture of safety.

Responsibilities

• Derive spacecraft guidance designs from mission level trajectory designs.
• Coordinate performance requirements between GN&C and mission planning.
• Develop and maintain both established and bespoke guidance algorithms for orbital maneuvers in various Earth and cis-lunar orbits, including rendezvous, proximity operations, and docking maneuvers.
• Develop and sustain flight control algorithms for spacecraft operating complex missions.
• Perform trade studies for efficient and robust maneuver targeting sequences, including nominal and contingency maneuvers during RPOD.
• Perform trade studies driving maturity of detailed spacecraft and mission design.
• Collaborate with communication, propulsion, structures, fluids, and mechanisms subsystems to ensure system level design closure.
• Develop and maintain software for flight systems and simulations.
• Integrate and test software in SIL and HIL environments.
• Implement controls algorithms and subsystem component models in an integrated 6-DOF simulation environment using Rust, C/C++, and Python.
• Develop toolsets for automated requirements, configuration, and performance analyses.
• Support internal and external reviews with data products and reports.

Skills

Astrodynamics

Orbital mechanics

GN&C algorithm development

Control theory

Attitude dynamics

C/C++ development

Rust

Python

GitLab

Confluence

JIRA

Education

Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering or Physics

Master's degree

Tools

Rust

Python

C/C++

GitLab

Confluence

JIRA

Job description

Blue Origin LLC in Greater Seattle seeks a GN&C Guidance and Flight Controls Engineer for the Lunar Permanence program. You will derive guidance designs from mission trajectories, coordinate performance with mission planning, and develop algorithms for Earth and cis-lunar orbiter maneuvers including rendezvous and docking.

You’ll implement control laws and test in SIL/HIL environments, collaborating across subsystems to ensure design closure.