GNC Engineer

As a GNC/AOCS Engineer at Spire, you will operate as part of a technical team who maintains responsibility across the full lifecycle of the Spire GNC product and its subcomponents. The GNC team interfaces directly with many engineering groups to conduct R&D, design, manufacturing, and operations activities, ultimately ensuring all current and future spacecraft systems satisfy their mission. Ideal candidates will embrace the commercialization of nanosatellite systems and adapt to low-cost, fast-paced systems design, development, and implementation methodologies that set Spire apart from our competition. In this fast-paced environment, the design to launch cycle is measured in weeks and months, not years.

What You’ll Do:

• Design, evaluate, select, qualify and implement flight sensors, including magnetometers, sun sensors, inertial measurement devices, Earth sensors, and/or star trackers.
• Design, evaluate, select, qualify and implement flight actuators, including magnetic torque elements, reaction wheels, and propulsion systems.
• Design, implement and maintain simulation models for GNC subcomponents in our 6-DOF simulation environment.
• Technical ownership of current and future GNC avionics peripherals, supporting troubleshooting, design and updates to improve reliability and performance.
• Working closely with cross-functional teams, including hardware, software, and systems engineers, to integrate avionics solutions into the larger platform.
• Develop component qualification and acceptance processes and be hands-on in laboratory and manufacturing environments.

Key Skills:

• Experience with flight sensors for spacecraft attitude determination/estimation.
• Experience with actuators, including actuator sizing, modelling, design and integration.
• A solid foundation in spacecraft attitude dynamics and control algorithms, with emphasis sensor ingestions and actuator command calculation.
• Experience working hands-on with HW and familiarity with 'hardware-in-the-loop` simulation.
• Experience developing software using C/Python.
• Have experience or familiarity with the Linux development environment.
• Have experience working with external engineering contractors.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience writing flight software.
• Experience designing and/or implementing Kalman filters and feedback control for attitude estimation.
• Experience with C or C++ development for embedded systems.
• Experience with spacecraft design.
• Experience with spacecraft assembly, integration, and testing.
• Experience with spacecraft operations and maintenance.
• Experience identifying and resolving system anomalies.
• Experience creating and maintaining integration and test campaigns for attitude determination and control systems, including hardware and software.

Spire operates a hybrid work model, and this position will require you to work a minimum of three days per week in the office.

Access to US export-controlled software and/or technology may be required for this role. If needed, Spire will arrange the necessary licenses—this is not something candidates need to have before applying.

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