Senior Controls Engineer, Optical Beam Pointing

The role

You will be the technical lead for optical beam pointing and control systems for the 2028 Mars Orbiter mission. You will design, develop, and implement control algorithms to enable high-precision optical communications.

What you will do

• Own the design, development, and implementation of optical beam pointing and control algorithms for the 2028 Mars Orbiter mission.
• Develop control systems that integrate optical sensor measurements, gyroscopic data, and spacecraft attitude estimates.
• Design and implement fast steering mirror control algorithms.
• Develop sensor fusion and state estimation algorithms.
• Define requirements, interfaces, and verification methods for optical beam pointing performance.
• Develop and maintain control system models, simulation environments, and analysis tools.
• Work with flight software developers to define software requirements, architectures, and interfaces.
• Support prototyping and ground testing of optical beam pointing systems.
• Serve as technical authority for optical beam pointing and control.
• Support flight operations during commissioning and on-orbit operations.

Required qualifications

• BS/MS/PhD in Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Control Systems, Physics, or a similar technical discipline
• 3+ years of related experience
• Strong background in control systems design and implementation, including classical and modern control theory, state-space methods, and nonlinear control
• Experience with spacecraft guidance, navigation, and control systems for launch vehicles, satellites, or other aerospace applications
• Experience developing sensor fusion and state estimation algorithms, including Kalman filtering, observer design, or similar techniques
• Strong software development skills in at least one high-level language (e.g. C++, Rust)
• Strong software development skills in at least one scripting language (e.g. Python, Matlab)
• Ability to work in a fast-paced startup environment with a high degree of autonomy and independence
• Ability to complete projects with ownership of end-to-end solutions and deliver results on schedule
• Ability to work across disciplines and clearly communicate technical decisions, requirements, and tradeoffs to engineering stakeholders

Nice to have

• A graduate degree (MS/PhD) in engineering or physics
• Prior work in a technical leadership role for spacecraft or satellite development
• Experience with image processing algorithms and photon counting detector systems
• Experience developing or implementing flight software for real-time control systems
• Experience with fast steering mirror systems, fine pointing mechanisms, or other precision actuation systems
• Experience with gyroscopic sensors, IMUs, and inertial measurement processing for spacecraft applications
• Familiarity with spacecraft attitude determination and control systems (ADCS)
• Experience with modeling and simulation tools such as MATLAB/Simulink for control system development
• Prior work in a startup or agile development environment
• Experience supporting spacecraft prototyping, ground testing, integration, or flight operations

Benefits

• Competitive salary and equity
• Generous PTO and sick leave policy
• Parental leave
• Annual learning and development stipend

About the company

Relativity Space is building rockets to serve today's needs and tomorrow's breakthroughs. The company is developing the Terran R vehicle to deliver customer payloads to orbit.