Spacecraft Guidance, Navigation, and Controls (GNC) Engineer
Vardaspace · El Segundo, California, United States
About this role
**About Varda** Low Earth orbit is open for business. Varda is accelerating the development of commercial space infrastructure—from in-orbit pharmaceutical processing to reliable and economical reentry capsules. Varda’s W-Series vehicles are built, designed, and operated in-house, including pharmaceutical processing payloads, capsules, C-PICA heat shields, and satellite buses. **About This Role** As a **Spacecraft Guidance, Navigation, and Controls (GNC) Engineer**, you will own the full life cycle of GNC development at Varda—from design through unit development, hardware-in-the-loop, on-vehicle functionality, and flight testing. You’ll perform system analyses (including simulations and Monte Carlo) to meet specifications and requirements, and to drive system-level architectural and business decisions. You’ll contribute to a sophisticated multi-degree-of-freedom in-house aerospace simulation and test framework, and develop/maintain design descriptions and supporting documentation. You’ll see end-to-end execution of the GNC subsystem—from initial analysis/design through vehicle integration, mission planning, flight, and support of on-orbit and reentry mission operations. --- ## Responsibilities - Define **ADCS hardware performance specifications**, including sizing of reaction wheels, torque rods, IMU/GPS, and star trackers - Design and implement **autonomous satellite attitude control**, collision avoidance, orbital rendezvous, burn planning, and atmospheric re-entry algorithms - Perform **trajectory design, optimization, and dispersion analysis** for reentry of a space capsule - Develop **6-DOF vehicle simulations** using **C++**, **Python**, and **MATLAB/Simulink** - Run **Monte Carlo** analyses to characterize performance of new vehicle and mission capabilities - Integrate and test **GNC sensors, actuators, and software** in a **hardware-in-the-loop** environment - Design and implement **ground tooling** for automated maneuver responsibility and maneuver scheduling decisions - Monitor on-orbit system performance and troubleshoot as needed - Coordinate with other spacecraft operators, 3rd-party agencies, and the US government --- ## Basic Qualifications - B.S. in aerospace, mechanical, electrical engineering, physics, or related field - 1–3 years of relevant experience, **or** PhD with 1+ year relevant experience - Demonstrated knowledge designing, modeling, testing, and flying aerospace GNC systems - Strong software/model development skills, especially **C++/Python** - Understanding of orbital mechanics, modeling/simulation, and software development - Experience anchoring/fitting first-principles models to test data or high-fidelity external simulations - Proven system engineering and configuration management skills - Excellent written and verbal communication --- ## Preferred Skills and Experience - M.S. in engineering or physics - Experience with spacecraft attitude determination and control system design - Experience with **GMAT**, **POST2**, or similar tools - Understanding of multi-body dynamics, flexible body dynamics, gas dynamics, fluids, and thermodynamics - Experience developing/verifying physical models for control design, component sizing, and system performance evaluation - Experience supporting safety-critical flight tests or spacecraft - Ability to continuously manage risk and deliver solutions using lean, state-of-the-art software development techniques --- ## Pay Range - **Engineer 1:** $131,494 – $168,024
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