Job description

Astrolab is The Lunar Operations Company. We design and build the systems and hardware the lunar economy will come to depend on — rovers, power, and data networks for sustained operations on the Moon. We are focused on the problems that must be solved before the next chapter of human exploration can scale. The Moon does not forgive untested assumptions. The people who work here know that, and they wouldn't have it any other way.

Astrolab is seeking a control systems engineer to support development and software implementation of active thermal control systems and algorithms for extra-terrestrial rovers with highly constrained power and energy budgets. Thermal control system development will include simulation, analysis, and design of vehicle thermal controls and algorithms; identification and sizing of thermal control system sensors and actuators (heaters or other); analysis, characterization, verification, and validation of thermal control system and algorithm performance; gain tuning; and supporting integrated hardware/software testing to verify thermal control system performance.
What you'll do:

Work with the thermal team and stakeholders to define thermal control system requirements from vehicle and subsystem level functional and performance requirements
Design, develop, tune, verify, and validate vehicle thermal control system performance
Support the thermal team’s development of simulation and modeling tools for thermal control system design, analysis and tuning in appropriate tools and mature models as additional test data becomes available
Design and prototype appropriate controllers that meet the defined requirements using simulations and control system design tools
Work with the thermal team to size and place thermal control system components such as RTDs, heaters, radiators, etc. to ensure efficient, effective vehicle thermal control
Analyze and tune controller performance, stability, and robustness using the system simulations and TVAC test data
Develop control system documentation and work with vehicle software team to convert controller prototypes into flight code, including supporting unit and integrated testing of flight implementations
Support calibration of thermal control system sensors and implementation of calibration in flight software

What you'll bring: Basic Qualifications

10+ years of space vehicle thermal control system and algorithm analysis, design, development, verification, and validation. Relevant space vehicles include space stations, human-rated spacecraft, deep space science missions, extra-terrestrial rovers, or similar
Experience working with thermal hardware and modeling teams tobuild, test, and validate thermal control systems simulation and analysis tools for space vehicles
Experience modeling, analyzing, and tuning performance of thermal control systems to maximize thermal control authority while minimizing power and energy consumption and control system complexity

Preferred Qualifications

Experience modeling, analyzing, and tuning performance of thermal control systems to maximize thermal control authority while minimizing power and energy consumption and control system complexity. Preference will be given to candidates that have done modeling at both system and detailed board levels.
Experience working with limited thermal system observability (e.g. need to limit number of avionics channels, data bandwidth, and harnessing)
Experience sizing thermal control systems and ensuring optimal (or close to optimal) placement of thermal control system elements (e.g. sensors, heaters, radiators)
Experience working with testbeds for testing control systems on flight-like hardware and devising test plans to ensure proper testing of vehicle thermal control systems in relevant environments
Strong proficiency with spacecraft thermal modeling, thermal control system design tools, and control systems analysis (e.g. thermal desktop, Matlab controls system toolbox)
Experience designing thermal control algorithms for complex, sensitive systems such as robotic arms, optical sensors with limited optimal operational temperature ranges, and similar is desired.

Benefits and Perks

Join a team of best-in-class engineers building the foundation of planetary surface exploration
Equity ownership in the company
Comprehensive health benefits, including medical, dental, vision, and mental health support
401(k) plan with company match
Flexible PTO and parental leave
Weekly lunch stipend, plus complimentary snacks and beverages on-site
Once a month social hour on-site with food and drinks

Salary: 190000 - 220000 USD per year

Rover Thermal Control Systems Engineer (GNC/ Software)

Role overview

Qualifications

Responsibilities

Key facts

Hard skills

Other skills

About the company

Your match analysis

Job description

Related jobs

Other jobs at Astrolab

Sr. Dev Ops Engineer

GNC Engineer (All Levels)

Lead Simulation Engineer