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GNC Engineer (Optical Systems)
Job Location:
Job Location:
Redondo Beach, CA - USA
Yearly Salary:
$ 125000 - 155000
Yearly Salary:
Posted:
7 June 2026 (30+ days ago)
Posted:
Application Deadline:
9 September 2026
Application Deadline:
Vacancies:
1 Vacancy
Vacancies:
Job Summary
As a Guidance Navigation and Control Engineer (Optical Systems) at Impulse Space you will own all aspects of and provide outstanding technical contribution to star trackers and optical navigation systems in all phases of development and operation while working closely with a fast paced agile team.
Responsibilities
- Implement GNC flight analysis and test artifacts for high-performance GNC-adjacent optical systems produced at scale
- Develop robust identification attitude resolution and object detection algorithms for star trackers and other imaging systems
- Support relative navigation through imaging systems
- Quantify and verify expected sensor performance via first-principles simulation and hardware verification
- Contribute to vehicle-level attitude determination improvements and analyses
- Participate in software development both flight code and simulation
- Create tools for ground and on-orbit development alignments and verification enabling new iterations and design decisions to be realized quickly
- Resolve technical issues with innovative resourceful solutions
- Communicate design needs intent and capability to the broader engineering team
- For Senior and higher mentor other engineers and define the best practices for sensor-level design and integration into space vehicles
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelors degree in engineering discipline
- 2 years of experience in image processing and optical analysis
- Proficiency in Matlab and C
- Demonstrated experience with camera systems and fundamentals of attitude determination
- Experience with sensor noise modeling photometric calibration or low-light imaging
Preferred Skills and Experience
- Masters or PhD in aerospace electrical computer science or related degree
- Strong mathematical background in Kalman filtering and probability analysis
- Demonstrated experience in developing star tracker starlight-in-quaternion-out algorithms
- Experience with ground-based testing of optical systems
- Experience with computer vision machine learning or pattern recognition in imaging systems
- Experience in a startup or agile development environment
- Experience in spacecraft GNC fundamentals and vehicle interactions with high-performance optical systems
Additional Information:
Compensation bands are determined by role level location and alignment with market data. Individual level and base pay is determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on job-related skills education experience technical capabilities and internal addition to base salary for full-time hires you may also be eligible for long-term incentives in the form of stock options and access to medical vision & dental coverage as well as access to a 401(k) retirement plan.
Impulse Spaces spacecraft manufacturing business is subject to U.S. export regulations including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR). This position requires applicants to be either U.S. Persons (i.e. U.S. citizen U.S. national lawful permanent U.S. resident (green card holder) an individual granted asylum in the U.S. or an individual admitted in U.S. refugee status) or persons eligible to obtain an export license from the U.S. Departments of State Commerce or other applicable U.S. government agencies. Learn more about the ITAR here.
Impulse Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Impulse Space is governed on the basis of merit competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race color religion gender national origin/ethnicity veteran status disability status age sexual orientation gender identity marital status mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.
Required Experience:
IC
