Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) designs the constellation for good coverage and space safety, and develops the systems that control and maneuver each satellite as they ascend from injection to operational orbits, merge into the constellation flow and station keep relative to neighbors. Every spacecraft is ready and able to maneuver at any time to avoid other satellites or space debris if a close pass threatens.
The navigation system provides precise positioning in real-time and supports forecasting future orbital state, taking into account planned maneuvers and other effects. Guidance, Navigation, and Control also provides cueing to direct the communications systems on the satellite that require accurate pointing in order to achieve high performance.
Export Control Requirement: Due to applicable export control laws and regulations, candidates must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (i.e., current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum.
Key job responsibilities
- Design and develop real-time, embedded software that controls satellite flight, including guidance, navigation, and maneuvering across all mission phases from orbit injection through station keeping.
- Build ground-based applications that predict orbital state, monitor for potential collisions, and optimize maneuver planning for the constellation.
- Create high-fidelity modeling and simulation software to validate GNC algorithms and support system-level testing and integration.
- Collaborate across teams to troubleshoot and resolve problems spanning satellite integration, manufacturing, and flight operations, ensuring reliable end-to-end system performance.
- Develop and maintain the infrastructure, tools, and documentation needed to build, test, deploy, and operate GNC software at scale.
A day in the life
This is an opportunity to play a significant role in the design of an entirely new satellite system with challenging performance requirements. The large, integrated constellation brings opportunities for advanced capabilities that need investigation and development. Scale also puts emphasis on engineering excellence so our tools and methods, from conceptualization through manufacturing and all phases of test, will be state of the art as will the satellite and supporting infrastructure on the ground. You will split time working well defined SW projects needed by the program on a schedule, prototyping design concepts that may or may not make it to production, participating in component and satellite level testing, and helping with flight operations.
About the team
Our team has experience with various satellite systems and many other flight vehicles. We have bench strength in our mission, the core Guidance, Navigation, and Control disciplines, and software development for flight and other systems. We design, prototype, test, iterate and learn together. Because GNC is central to safe flight, we tend to drive Concepts of Operation and many system level analyses. You will find that Amazon Leo's mission is compelling, so our program is staffed with some of the top engineers in the industry. Our daily collaboration with other teams on the program brings constant opportunity for discovery, learning, and growth.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
- 3+ years of non-internship professional software development experience
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience with Python
- Experience with Rust
- General familiarity with, or strong interest in learning, aerospace, robotics, controls, or other dynamical-systems domains
- Guidance, Navigation and Control development experience
- Passion for space safety, satellite operations, and advancing the commercial space industry
- General familiarity with the disciplines necessary for spacecraft flight including; structures, propulsion, avionics, GNC, flight software, dynamics, launch and mission operations, and integration. Practical experience in real world development of these systems is highly desired
- Ability to work in a fast-paced, iterative environment and take ownership end-to-end
The base salary range for this position is listed below. Your Amazon package will include sign-on payments and restricted stock units (RSUs). Final compensation will be determined based on factors including experience, qualifications, and location. Amazon also offers comprehensive benefits including health insurance (medical, dental, vision, prescription, Basic Life & AD&D insurance and option for Supplemental life plans, EAP, Mental Health Support, Medical Advice Line, Flexible Spending Accounts, Adoption and Surrogacy Reimbursement coverage), 401(k) matching, paid time off, and parental leave. Learn more about our benefits at https://amazon.jobs/en/benefits.
USA, WA, Redmond - 143,700.00 - 194,400.00 USD annually
