GN&C Flight Controls Engineer – Lunar Permanence

At Blue Origin, we envision millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth. We’re working to develop reusable, safe, and low-cost space vehicles and systems within a culture of safety, collaboration, and inclusion. This role is part of the Lunar Permanence business unit, which develops Blue Origin’s Blue Moon landers and related products. We are building sustainable infrastructure for transport of crew and cargo from Earth to the lunar surface.

About the role

As part of a hardworking team of engineers, you will join our Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GN&C) team with an emphasis on Flight Controls. You will share in the team’s impact on all aspects of developing control laws and flight software for spacecraft traveling from the Earth to the Moon! You will prototype algorithms, conduct trade studies for control architectures, and perform linear stability analyses using classical and modern approaches. Expect to collaborate closely with other subsystems and spacecraft systems engineers to support the definition of subsystem boundaries, interfaces, and technical performance measures. Passion for our mission and vision is required!

Responsibilities

• Develop and sustain control system algorithms for spacecraft operating sophisticated missions
• Perform trade studies driving spacecraft maturity and mission design
• Collaborate with propulsion, structures, fluids, and mechanisms to ensure system level design closure
• Develop and maintain software for flight systems and simulation models
• Integrate and test software in SIL and HIL environments
• Implement controls algorithms and subsystem component models in an integrated 6-DOF simulation environment using Rust, C/C++, and Python
• Develop toolsets for automated requirement, configuration, and performance analyses
• Support internal and external reviews with data products and reports

Qualifications

• B.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering or Physics with 5+ years of experience or M.S. with 3+ years of experience
• Established background in GN&C algorithm development specifically for flight and attitude control using classical and modern control methods
• Knowledgeable in frequency domain analysis techniques
• Robust understanding of controller stability derivatives and stability margins with respect to spacecraft dynamics, flexible body dynamics, and slosh dynamics
• Demonstrated experience with control law design for aerospace vehicles
• Demonstrated experience with control allocation to vehicle actuators
• Familiarity with development of requirements, interfaces, trades and analyses for aerospace GN&C applications
• Understand the relationship between attitude control, vehicle configuration, spacecraft dynamics, actuators, sensors, and automation
• Hands-on development with C/C++
• Experience with collaboration tools such as Gitlab, Confluence, and JIRA
• Strong grasp of software and data configuration management techniques and tools
• Highly organized teammate with excellent technical written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to earn trust, maintain positive and professional relationships, and give to a culture of safety
• Must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum

Preferred Qualifications

• M.S. or Ph.D. in Aerospace, Mechatronic, Electrical Engineering or closely related technical subject area
• Proven experience in development, implementation and testing of GN&C systems for aerospace vehicles
• Proven technical experience through the full lifecycle of system development
• Proficiency in various control law schemes such as PID, Phase-Plane, H-Infinity, Lead and Lag Compensators, Dynamic Inversion, etc.
• Experience designing flight control systems with reaction control systems (RCS), thrust vector control (TVC), or electric propulsion
• Deep knowledge of astrodynamics, orbital mechanics, attitude kinematics and dynamics
• Experience with spacecraft control system design considerations for Rendezvous and Proximity Operations and Docking (RPOD)
• Experience providing GN&C support during on-orbit mission operations
• Experience synthesizing and evaluating Monte Carlo simulations, hardware-in-the-loop, and software-in-the-loop testing
• Experience with real-time flight software
• Hands-on experience with GN&C flight hardware
• Experience with performing system safety analyses including Functional Hazard Assessments; Failure Modes, Effects and Criticality Analyses; and Fault Tree Analysis
• Experience with linear stability analysis in Matlab
• Experience coding in Rust

Pay

Base Pay Range for CO applicants is $123,714.00 - $173,199.60. WA applicants is $134,961.00 - $188,945.40. Other site ranges may differ.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, basic and supplemental life insurance
• Paid parental leave
• Short and long-term disability
• 401(k) with a company match of up to 5%
• Education Support Program
• Stock Options for all regular employees (working at least 20 hours/week)
• Paid Time Off: Up to four (4) weeks per year based on weekly scheduled hours, and up to 14 company-paid holidays
• Dependent on role type and job level, employees may be eligible for benefits and bonuses based on individual contributions and company results