{"id":515565,"url":"https://alion.io/job/starfish-space-gnc-guidance-navigation-and-control-engineer","title":"GNC (Guidance, Navigation, and Control) Engineer","company":{"id":10907,"name":"Starfish Space","domain":"starfishspace.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/starfishspace","size_band":"201-500","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Ashby","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":95,"open_postings":7,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":112,"computed_at":"2026-11-11T05:49:22Z"}},"role":"Aerospace","role_family":"Aerospace","seniority":"middle","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"hybrid","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Tukwila, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":100000,"max":180000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":180000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":3,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"C++","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-05-16T16:48:37Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-05-16","last_verified_at":"2026-11-11T06:47:37Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":178,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":0,"flags":[],"days_open":178},"description":"About Starfish Space: Starfish Space provides satellite servicing missions with its Otter servicing vehicle, including life extension missions for geostationary satellites and disposal missions for low Earth orbit satellites. Founded in 2019, Starfish has raised over $150M in venture capital funding and built a team of engineers with experience spanning satellite guidance, navigation, control, and autonomous robotics. Starfish has launched several missions to-date, and is focused on delivering Otter satellite servicing missions for SES, the U.S. Space Force, the Space Development Agency, NASA, and others.\nPosition Description Satellite servicing missions require autonomous, robotic actions in orbit. To fulfill our mission, Starfish developed the Otter servicing vehicle and the CEPHALOPOD guidance software to interact with and maximize the operational value of satellites. GNC Engineers at Starfish Space support the refinement of flight algorithms to autonomously guide satellites during rendezvous, proximity operations, and docking (RPOD), and relies on guidance, navigation, and control skills. This engineer will do everything ranging from writing software, to developing autonomous flight algorithms, to testing and refining GNC software during breakthrough RPOD missions.\nQualifications\n3+ years of experience with GNC, preferably in an aerospace context\n\nProficiency with astrodynamics\n\nWorking knowledge of satellite guidance and/or control\n\nProgramming experience in Python and/or C/C++\n\nB.S. degree or equivalent in Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or similar field\n\nMust be a US person (citizen, permanent resident, or designated refugee / asylee)\n\nWilling to work from Tukwila, Washington\n\nCapable of working a dynamic, fast-paced startup environment\n\nITAR Requirements To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the 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.","description_format":"text","description_chars":2170,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":3,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":true,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Space Services"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-07T18:39:09Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":25,"band":"fade","label":"Fading","p_open":1,"p_active":0.699,"p_room":0.36,"age_days":178,"expected_fill_days":112,"reasons":["conf:3","win:tail","crowd:"],"computed_at":"2026-11-11T05:49:22Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":180000,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/starfish-space-gnc-guidance-navigation-and-control-engineer","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/starfish-space-gnc-guidance-navigation-and-control-engineer.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-11T09:49:11Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":16533,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-12T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.1,"usd":0.01,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":10907},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=10907"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fstarfish-space-gnc-guidance-navigation-and-control-engineer"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":2,"usd":0.2},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fstarfish-space-gnc-guidance-navigation-and-control-engineer"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.1,"usd":0.01},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fstarfish-space-gnc-guidance-navigation-and-control-engineer"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/starfish-space-gnc-guidance-navigation-and-control-engineer\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fstarfish-space-gnc-guidance-navigation-and-control-engineer"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":515565}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"starfishspace.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":515565},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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