GNC Engineer, ADCS

SpaceX

Confirmed live today High trust

Quick summary

Work type: On-site
Location: Hawthorne, CA
Salary: $125,000–$160,000 / yr
Posted: 57 days ago
Freshness: Confirmed live today
Nearby: 99+ roles within 25 mi

Market check

Salary context

Below market

How this pay compares to similar roles

Similar $180k

This role $142k

$114k $229k

below market most similar roles pay here above market

This role pays less than 74% of similar roles. Most pay $142,500–$217,500 — the blue band above. At the midpoint, this role pays about $142k versus about $180k for comparable roles.

Based on 240 similar postings.

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About SpaceX

SpaceX designs, manufactures, and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft with the mission of enabling humans to become a multi-planetary species. It operates the Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and Starship launch vehicles, as well as the Starlink satellite internet constellation.

SpaceX currently has 851 open roles on FindRole.

Listed pay typically runs $130,000–$165,000 across 590 roles with salary data.

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At a glance

TL;DR · GNC Engineer, ADCS

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GNC Engineer, ADCS (Starshield) joins the Starshield Attitude Determination and Control System team to support government-focused earth observation, communications, and hosted payloads. You will design and implement satellite GNC software, develop onboard algorithms for vehicle autonomy and fault tolerance, and create concepts of operations that balance thermal constraints, power budgets, and momentum management. Daily tasks include high-fidelity 6DOF modeling, Monte Carlo simulation analysis, and integrated hardware-in-the-loop testing. You will also perform spacecraft design activities for sensor and actuator hardware sizing. Required skills include software development in C++, Python, and MATLAB/Simulink, along with experience in attitude determination and state estimation algorithms. The role requires solving complex problems in spacecraft attitude dynamics, navigation filtering, and control systems design to ensure reliable satellite performance across the entire mission timeline.

Skills

C++ Python MATLAB Simulink Linux Git CI/CD 6DOF Modeling Monte Carlo Simulation Hardware-in-the-Loop GNSS Star Trackers Jira Confluence Control Systems State Estimation

What you'll do

Design and implement satellite GNC software for all flight phases and contingency scenarios.
Develop onboard GNC algorithms to achieve high vehicle autonomy and fault tolerance.
Create concepts of operations to balance thermal, power, momentum, and payload-pointing constraints.
Perform high-fidelity 6DOF modeling and Monte Carlo simulations to validate navigation and control performance.
Lead integrated hardware-in-the-loop testing, including test case design and data review automation.
Design and size ADCS sensor and actuator hardware for spacecraft layouts.
Update and maintain GNC software configurations for various satellite design revisions and mission sets.

What we're looking for

Bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering, computer science/software engineering, or an engineering discipline.
Software development experience in C++, Python, and/or MATLAB/Simulink.
Experience with attitude determination and/or state estimation algorithms.
Master's or PhD in aerospace engineering, computer science/software engineering, or an engineering discipline (preferred).
Extremely strong technical fundamentals in spacecraft attitude and orbit dynamics, navigation filtering, and control systems design (preferred).
Demonstrated experience owning, designing, testing, and flying real-world GNC engineering solutions, preferably on space vehicles (preferred).
Active Top Secret, Top Secret SCI, or DOE Level Q clearance, or the ability to obtain and maintain one.
Must be a U.S. citizen, national, lawful permanent resident, refugee, asylee, or eligible for required Department of State authorizations.

5+ yrs exp

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