Controls Engineer (Full Time

Controls Engineer (Full Time)

Location:

Arcadia, CA (on-site) - beautiful 1000 sq ft warehouse near Pasadena

Stage:
Pre-seed startup | Backed by leading early-stage investors including Techstars and Hallstone Ventures

ORBES believes in a world where robots automate the most dangerous and expensive tasks in space. We are starting by building free-flying robots to increase safety and redirect up to $300M of manual labor in space stations, building on the legacy of projects like Astrobee, Int-Ball, AERCam, R5-S5, and Seeker/Kenobi.

For the past few months, we have been building ORB, a 12-propeller 6-DOF camera drone able to film in zero-gravity planes and inside space stations.

We have already demonstrated camera recording and mobility on an in-house air-bearing table and are sprinting to launch ORB to the ISS in April 2027.

We're looking for a Controls Engineer to start in mid July or August 2026 full-time.

If you've worked on humanoid robotics or drone design teams, Ingenuity, Astrobee, SPHERES, CoSTAR, or formation-flying and docking testbeds, you'll feel right at home here.

What You'll Do:

• Develop and simulate 6-DOF dynamics and control systems for free-flying robots operating in and later outside the space station.

  • Current product: ORB - 12 bi-directional propeller drone with cinema camera payload for inside space stations or zero-gravity planes.

  • Future products: ORB Dock - home-base for the ORB to recharge and offload data
    
    ExoORB - 12U RPO-capable cubesat using cold gas thrusters for outside space stations and large spacecraft

• Design and tune attitude and translational controllers (PID, LQR, model-based, adaptive, perspective & point, or other advanced control methods).

• Interface across avionics, propulsion, and test to validate control performance with both simulation and hands-on testing.

• Contribute to the development of safety, redundancy, and fault-tolerant architectures for human-rated operation in space.

What We're Looking For:

• Demonstrated leadership on projects in controls engineering for drones and/or aerospace robotics (including a technical degree in related field like Computer Science)

• Strong foundations in linear and nonlinear control, orbital dynamics, actuator control (DC motors, servos, stepper motors, BLDCs with ESCs).

• Experience with MATLAB/Simulink, C++/Python, and real-time control implementation.

• Hands-on experience with robotic or spacecraft GNC systems (e.g., free-flyers, drones, or Cube Sats).

• A love for building and testing real flying hardware.

• Familiarity with ROS 2, Jetson Orin Nano, VIO/SLAM, Intel Realsense, Luxonis, and flight test integration.

Why ORBES:

• See your work fly to the ISS and private space stations!

• Work with a nimble multi-disciplinary team that values the intersection of art and technology.

• Work with advisors including IMAX professionals, Hollywood filmmakers, and astronauts.

• Have a foundational role in enabling safety and efficiency for human spaceflight.

• Full-time employment with equity benefits.