Varda Space
Guidance, Navigation & Controls (GNC) Internship - Summer 2027
El Segundo, California, United States · Internship · Posted Oct 1, 2026
- Experience
- Previous GNC internship; preferred: at least one year on a technical project team.
- Visa sponsorship
- Must be a U.S. person permitted access to the company's technology without an export license: U.S. citizen, U.S. lawful permanent resident, or protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3).
About the job
Contribute to the design, simulation, integration, and testing of guidance, navigation, and control systems for spacecraft and reentry vehicles.
What you'll do
- Develop analyses, algorithms, and simulations for reentry vehicles, including trajectory design, optimization, and dispersion analysis.
- Integrate and test GNC sensors, actuators, and software in simulation and hardware-in-the-loop environments.
- Develop autonomous spacecraft control and mission-planning algorithms and supporting tools.
What they ask for
- Previous GNC internship.
- Familiarity with orbital mechanics, flight dynamics, trajectory design and optimization, feedback controls, 6DOF flight simulations, navigation solutions, GNC flight algorithms, and Monte Carlo analysis.
- Familiarity with C++ or Python and modern software development principles.
Nice to have
- At least one year on a technical project team, such as CubeSat, Rocket Team, AIAA Design-Build-Fly, or Formula SAE.
- Experience with aerospace GNC or simulation tooling; familiarity with GMAT, POST2, MATLAB/Simulink, or custom orbital simulation frameworks.
Tools
C++, python, GMAT, POST2, MATLAB/Simulink
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative