Project Kuiper is an initiative to increase global broadband access through a constellation of 3,236 satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO). Its mission is to bring fast, affordable broadband to unserved and underserved communities around the world. Project Kuiper will help close the digital divide by delivering fast, affordable broadband to a wide range of customers, including consumers, businesses, government agencies, and other organizations operating in places without reliable connectivity.

Are you excited about developing the guidance, navigation, and control subsystem for an advanced fleet of communications satellites? Our team is creating the algorithms and software that will perform high-performance flight control on each spacecraft; in other words, the autopilot that flies the constellation.

As a guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) systems engineer, you will support the systems lifecycle support of the real-time software that flies the spacecraft from the moment of launch to re-entry, joining a team of control systems experts and engineers to deliver the control/estimation algorithms. In collaboration with partner teams, you will execute cross-disciplinary product development with a high bar for rigor and technical excellence. You must be able to thrive and succeed in an entrepreneurial environment, and not be hindered by ambiguity or competing priorities.

The right candidate will possess a strong, well-rounded technical background in systems engineering, with some software and hardware familiarity. Prior experience with spacecraft or autonomous vehicles is helpful, but not a prerequisite.

Key job responsibilities
- Develop the GNC concept of operations (CONOPS) and secure agreement amongst diverse stakeholders.
- Author requirements and tests plans to lead developers in the verification and validation.
- Work with software and algorithms engineers to develop an end to end description of key satellite behavior.

Export Control Requirement:
Due to applicable export control laws and regulations, candidates must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (i.e., current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum.

About the team
The mission of the Guidance, Navigation and Control team is to fly the satellites. We design the constellation for good coverage and space safety, then invent the guidance techniques that maneuver each satellite, winding its way up from injection to an operational orbit, merging into the constellation flow, and maintaining stationkeeping, staying in appropriate relative position with its neighbors. Additionally, every spacecraft is ready and able to maneuver at any time to avoid other satellites or space debris if a close pass threatens. Navigation functions use GPS to provide precise positioning in real-time, as forecasts into the future, and taking into account maneuvers we plan to make and drag the spacecraft experience. This allows the payloads and solar panels can perform their mission, each satellite has an onboard autopilot or "attitude determination and control system" that computes orientation and what to do about it. The team specifies the type, power and precision of control actuators like torque rods and reaction wheels, the many different sensors for measuring orientation and motion, and the compute algorithms in between. We write those control loop algorithms with a larger physics simulation that models the spacecraft in high dynamic detail.