Guidance, Navigation & Controls; GN&C) Engineer

Title

Guidance, Navigation & Controls (GN&C) Engineer

Houston, TX.

US citizenship required.

4091

Craig Technologies is seeking a Guidance, Navigation, and Controls (GN&C) Engineer to join our team in Houston, TX or Merritt Island, FL. The candidate will contribute to the design, development, and testing of the GN&C system for the Lunar Data Network (LDN) spacecraft, which will provide crucial navigation and communications services to lunar users. This position will support real-time GN&C flight software development, flight control automation, hardware-in-the-loop (HWIL) sensor and effector integration, orbital performance analysis, and autonomous deep-space maneuvering validation.

• Contribute to the design, architecture development, and verification testing of the GN&C system for the Lunar Data Network (LDN) spacecraft constellation.
• Develop, test, and peer-review high-reliability GN&C flight software and control algorithms written in C and C++.
• Support the selection, trade studies, procurement, and integration of specialized deep-space GN&C sensors and effector systems.
• Execute, maintain, and analyze 6-DOF (Degrees of Freedom) simulations and Monte Carlo profiles to evaluate expected on-orbit performance and trajectory stability in cislunar space.
• Support navigation HWIL (Hardware-in-the-Loop) and SWIL (Software-in-the-Loop) sensor and effector integration and testing for the LDN satellite constellation.
• Assist in real-time flight software development, testing, and implementation of autonomous fault-tolerant recovery logic for navigation anomalies.
• Incorporate relative navigation, image processing, or feature detection techniques to support operations where traditional Earth-based GPS is unavailable.
• Collaborate closely with cross-functional engineering teams across software, hardware, and mission operations systems.
• Document software architectures, design trades, and simulation results in clean technical reports and presentations.
• Other duties as assigned.

• Strong interpersonal, communication, and technical documentation skills with an ability to communicate complex data clearly and effectively.
• High level critical thinking, mathematical reasoning, and a detail-oriented engineering mindset.
• Ability to work independently or adapt quickly as part of a multi-disciplinary, fast-paced space systems team.

• Bachelor's or Master's Degree in Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a highly related field plus 3–5 years of relevant experience.
• 3–5 years of direct experience writing flight or simulation software in C, C++, and/or Python.
• Proven experience developing, tuning, and implementing Extended Kalman Filters (EKFs) or sequential filters for spacecraft state estimation.
• Familiarity with deep-space or satellite GN&C hardware architectures, including IMUs, Star Trackers, Reaction Wheels, and Thruster clusters.
• Experience with relative navigation, Optical Navigation (OpNav), or feature detection techniques optimized for lunar or planetary environments.
• Foundational knowledge of spacecraft rigid-body dynamics, attitude determination, and orbital mechanics (specifically multi-body or cislunar trajectories).
• Experience utilizing SWIL and/or HWIL testbeds to integrate and calibrate physical sensor packages.
• Experience working with JIRA, Git version control, and Agile development methodologies.

• Familiarity with VxWorks, RTEMS, or other Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS) used in aerospace applications is a strong plus.
• Prior experience contributing to GN&C engineering efforts on operational spacecraft or satellite programs.
• All candidates selected will be subject to a background investigation and drug screen.
• To conform to U.S. Government International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

• Prolonged periods standing or walking on hard surfaces.
• Ability to travel