Guidance, Navigation & Control
Guidance, navigation, control and attitude & orbit control systems engineers are the reason a spacecraft points, moves and survives where it’s supposed to. We place the specialists who make that true.
What GNC and AOCS engineers actually do.
GNC (Guidance, Navigation & Control) and AOCS (Attitude & Orbit Control Systems) engineers design the algorithms, sensors and actuators that determine where a spacecraft is, where it needs to go, and how it stays pointed correctly while it gets there.
That spans everything from launch and early orbit acquisition, through station-keeping and momentum management, to re-entry, rendezvous and proximity operations. On autonomous and constellation programmes, GNC/AOCS work increasingly overlaps with onboard autonomy and fault management — engineers who can move between control theory and flight software are in especially short supply.
Why this hire is hard.
GNC/AOCS sits at the intersection of control theory, estimation, orbital mechanics and flight software — a combination few engineers hold at senior level.
- Genuinely qualified candidates are a small, well-known pool — most aren’t job-hunting
- Requirements span control theory, estimation (Kalman filtering), orbital mechanics and real-time software
- Programme-classified or export-controlled work narrows the eligible pool further
- Simulation and hardware-in-the-loop experience is rarely reflected accurately on a CV
- Generalist recruiters can’t distinguish AOCS depth from adjacent controls experience
Roles, technologies and seniority we cover
Roles we cover
GNC Engineer, AOCS Engineer, Guidance & Navigation Engineer, Control Systems Engineer, Estimation/Filtering Engineer, Rendezvous & Proximity Ops Engineer, GNC Algorithm Developer, GNC Lead / Principal, Head of GNC.
Technologies & competencies
Kalman filtering & state estimation, control theory (classical & modern), orbital mechanics, MATLAB/Simulink, star trackers, reaction wheels & thrusters, sensor fusion, HIL/SIL simulation, C/C++/Python for flight code.
Seniority levels
Graduate/Early Career GNC Engineer through Senior, Principal, Lead and Head of GNC/AOCS — plus interim and fractional leadership for early-stage programmes.
Typical candidate profiles
Aerospace engineering, control systems or applied mathematics backgrounds; PhD-level candidates common at senior/algorithm level; experience gained on satellite primes, launch programmes, defence primes or new-space start-ups; often crossing over from adjacent robotics, autonomous vehicles or defence GNC work.
Relevant industries
Satellite manufacturing (LEO/MEO/GEO), launch vehicles, human spaceflight, defence & space primes, new-space constellations, national space agencies and their supply chains, and increasingly autonomous UAV/UAS programmes with shared GNC heritage.
Related disciplines & insights
Flight Software
Onboard software that GNC algorithms run on.
Systems Engineering
Architecture and requirements across the mission.
Where the GNC talent gap is widening
Mapping the specialisms programmes are struggling to fill.