Samara Aerospace develops satellite bus technology that replaces traditional reaction wheels with solar-hinge actuation to deliver dramatically more stable, lighter, and smaller spacecraft.
<p><strong><span data-contrast="auto">About Us: </span></strong><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="auto">Samara Aerospace is revolutionizing satellite design by addressing the challenges of deploying and managing large satellite constellations. Our innovative Hummingbird spacecraft bus offers a modular and scalable platform that streamlines satellite production and deployment, significantly reducing launch costs. Hummingbird's compact architecture maximizes launch capacity, making it the most efficient and agile spacecraft in the industry. At the core of our technology is the patented Multifunctional Structures for Attitude Control (MSAC) system. Unlike traditional wheel-based pointing control systems, MSAC utilizes actuators embedded in the hinges of deployable solar panels to provide 3-axis attitude control and active jitter cancellation. This design eliminates the need for spinning wheels, reducing mass and potential points of failure, while enhancing pointing precision.</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p> <p><strong><span data-contrast="auto">Role:</span></strong><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="auto">The Engineering team at Samara is looking for a Controls System Engineer to join us in building a next-generation attitude control system for satellites. We are looking for someone who is curious, kind, and has high standards. This person will help develop the control that operates our first flight vehicle: Hummingbird. This role will work closely with the CTO (who invented MSAC) and the embedded GNC engineer to characterize, simulate, and iterate on a novel spacecraft attitude control and noise cancellation system. Expect to go deep, collectively be wrong often, iterate, learn a lot, and to work alongside a team who is passionate about building something truly new. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="auto">If you have a background in satellite attitude control, reaction wheel or control moment gyro design, multi-joint robotic trajectories, or audio control/noise cancellation, please apply! If you do not meet all of the below criteria, we encourage you to apply anyway. We are more interested in folks who are collaborative with high standards, a learning mindset, and most of the skills than in a perfect technology match. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p> <p><strong><span data-contrast="none"><span data-ccp-parastyle="heading 2">Responsibilities: </span></span></strong><span data-ccp-props="{"134245418":true,"134245529":true,"335559738":160,"335559739":80}"> </span></p> <ul> <li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="5" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":1,"335559685":720,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Symbol","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">Dynamics/Kinematics Simulation </span></li> <li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="5" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":1,"335559685":720,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Symbol","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">Develop a high fidelity simulation of the spacecraft plant in MuJoCo </span></li> <li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="5" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":1,"335559685":720,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Symbol","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">Iterate on spacecraft simulator as ground testbed and flight model evolve </span></li> <li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="5" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":1,"335559685":720,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Symbol","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">Employ strong fundamentals in momentum and energy conservation laws to ensure physics are not violated </span></li> <li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="5" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":1,"335559685":720,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Symbol","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">Run Monte Carlo simulations to verify pointing and stability across dispersed initial conditions, plant parameters, and disturbances </span></li> <li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="5" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":1,"335559685":720,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Symbol","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">Control development </span></li> <li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="5" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":1,"335559685":720,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Symbol","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">Perform system identification and develop algorithms to automate the process on-orbit </span></li> <li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="5" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":1,"335559685":720,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Symbol","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">Design feed-forward/back control for a synchronized multi-joint actuator system to perform momentum control, taking into account structural resonance for a vibrating actuator system </span></li> <li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="5" data-list-def