Sr. GNC Orbit Controls Engineer
Xona· Engineering
Burlingame, California$170k - $210kFull-timePosted 1w ago
About the role
Senior role in GNC engineering focusing on orbit determination, guidance, maneuver execution, and post-maneuver analysis for automated station-keeping and disposal using onboard software and MATLAB/C++ simulators. Based in Burlingame, CA, on-site, full-time.
Responsibilities
- Develop open-loop and closed-loop controllers for RAAN and LTAN control, altitude management, station-keeping, and end-of-life disposal
- Implement and maintain onboard orbit propagators, select and validate integrators, ensure numerical consistency with ground truth
- Build and validate orbit determination pipelines using EKF or UKF with GNSS, manage navigation readiness and covariance gating for maneuvers
- Design burns and long-arc trajectories, optimize delta V and timelines under comm visibility, power and thermal, and operations constraints
- Plan and execute electric-propulsion long burns, including throttle profile generation, power and duty-cycle scheduling, thermal considerations, ignition and re-ignition logic, progress monitoring, and correction strategies
- Coordinate burn pointing and wheel momentum strategy with ADCS
- Maintain numerically consistent MATLAB and C++ simulators, create Monte Carlo campaigns, run SIL and HIL tests, and perform post-maneuver reconstruction
Qualifications
- Strong in orbital mechanics and simulation with onboard propagators and perturbation models
- Production guidance/control/navigation software experience in C/C++, MATLAB and Simulink for analysis and test-vector generation
- Designed RAAN and LTAN control strategies in open-loop and closed-loop forms and validated them in high-fidelity sims or flight
- Experience executing or supporting real maneuvers and reconciling plan vs truth with post-burn estimation
- Comfortable at ADCS and propulsion interface for burn pointing and momentum management
Skills
Required:Orbital mechanics and onboard propagatorsC/C++ software developmentMATLAB/SimulinkRAAN/LTAN control designManeuver planning and executionADCS integration
Benefits
- Equity offered
- Competitive base salary $170K – $210K depending on experience and qualifications
Last updated Oct 14, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.
About Xona
Next Era Navigational Intelligence | Xona
Xona is the navigation infrastructure company bringing real-time, centimeter-level certainty to any device, anywhere on Earth.
Location servicesPulsarGNSSNavigationPNTsatellites
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