Job Information
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. GNC Engineer, Navigation and State Estimation (Starlink) in Redmond, Washington
SpaceX was founded under the belief that a future where humanity is out exploring the stars is fundamentally more exciting than one where we are not. Today SpaceX is actively developing the technologies to make this possible, with the ultimate goal of enabling human life on Mars. GNC ENGINEER, NAVIGATION AND STATE ESTIMATION (STARLINK) At SpaceX we're leveraging our experience in building rockets and spacecraft to deploy Starlink, the world's most advanced broadband internet system. Starlink is the world's largest satellite constellation and is providing fast, reliable internet to 2M+ users worldwide. We design, build, test, and operate all parts of the system - thousands of satellites, consumer receivers that allow users to connect within minutes of unboxing, and the software that brings it all together. We've only begun to scratch the surface of Starlink's potential global impact and are looking for best-in-class engineers to help maximize Starlink's utility for communities and businesses around the globe. As an engineer on this team, you will bring a passion and expertise in areas like control theory, state estimation, orbital mechanics, spacecraft systems design, optimization, and software development to join the Starlink guidance, navigation, and control (GNC). Come help us write the autopilot algorithms for thousands of satellites (the world's largest constellation!) and more than one million user terminals, enabling access to high speed broadband internet in all corners of the world. RESPONSIBILITIES: Design, analysis, implementation of onboard angular and positional navigation logic for satellites, consumer antennas, and other Starlink devices. Star tracker and signals based attitude determination and inertial propagation. GNSS and signals based positioning and inertial propagation. Orbit determination of starlink sats and other objects of interest. Onboard estimation of payload alignment errors to maximize received inbound/outbound signal power. Space weather modeling and thermospheric density estimation and forecasting, to improve resilience of constellation against environmental factors. Work with hardware engineers on the design and specification of future navigation sensor packages, including both COTS solutions and in-house development. Model derivation and high fidelity simulation for development and validation of prototype features. Implementation, validation, unit testing, and deployment of production software (C++) pertinent to the systems described above. Provide engineering and data review support for hardware development, network level performance monitoring, special projects, and customer support team. BASIC QUALIFICATIONS: Bachelor's degree in aerospace, physics, or an engineering discipline. Software development experience in C++. Experience in technical analysis scripting and visualization via Matlab or Python. Experience with generalized state estimation algorithms. Experience with attitude determination and/or GNSS positioning. PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE: Master's degree or PhD in physics or an engineering discipline. Demonstrated project or professional experience in state estimation, feedback control, robotics, antenna design and actuation, or similar. Direct experience with inertial navigation systems. Star tracker spot detection, pose estimation, propagation and filtering, and general firmware development. Direct experience with GNSS. Multi-GNSS measurement models. Loosely/tightly coupled state estimation. Carrier phase compensation and integer ambiguity resolution. Ionospheric compensation and modeling via radio occultation measurements. Externally supplied constellation ephemeris + clock augmentation. PPP/RTK. Experience with GNSS receiver and antenna hardware and integration (time synchronization, PTP, PPS, receiver firmware