About this opportunity
Approach Venture lists this Senior Perception & Navigation Engineer - Spacecraft Autonomy opportunity in golden, Colorado. Review the employer’s description below for duties, qualifications and application requirements.
Job description
Lead Perception & Navigation Engineer - Build the autonomy stack for next-generation spacecraft
Golden, Colorado | On-site
Opportunity Summary
Join a well-funded, seed-stage space startup developing a new class of spacecraft designed to autonomously interact, assemble, and operate together in orbit. The platform depends on multiple spacecraft elements being able to detect one another, estimate relative position and motion, navigate in close proximity, and execute autonomous rendezvous and docking with a high degree of reliability. As the Lead Perception & Navigation Engineer, you will own the perception and navigation architecture that makes this autonomy possible. You will lead development of the relative navigation, state estimation, sensor fusion, and perception systems that allow spacecraft to understand where they are relative to one another and safely close the loop from sensing through control. This is a hands‑on technical leadership role with broad ownership across algorithms, sensor requirements, simulation, flight software, testing, and hardware integration. You will define the system from the ground up and work closely with controls, avionics, embedded software, and spacecraft systems engineers to bring autonomous proximity operations into flight.
About Us
We are a well-funded, seed-stage space technology company building modular spacecraft systems designed to operate collaboratively in orbit. Our team is developing the hardware and autonomy required for individual spacecraft elements to rendezvous, connect, and ultimately operate as a larger integrated vehicle. The company is moving toward flight demonstrations and expanding the core engineering team responsible for turning this architecture into an operational spacecraft platform.
Job Duties
Lead the architecture and development of the spacecraft perception and navigation stack
Own relative navigation and state estimation for rendezvous, proximity operations, approach, and docking
Develop real‑time algorithms for relative position, velocity, attitude, pose, and motion estimation
Design and implement multi‑sensor fusion architectures using EKF, UKF, nonlinear estimation, and related techniques
Define sensing requirements including accuracy, update rate, latency, field of view, calibration, observability, and measurement quality
Help select and characterize the sensor suite used for autonomous relative navigation
Develop perception algorithms that convert raw sensor measurements into reliable relative‑state information
Build measurement and observation models for ranging, bearing, pose, and other relative‑navigation inputs
Own the technical interface between perception, navigation, guidance, and control
Establish navigation accuracy and uncertainty budgets required for stable closed‑loop spacecraft operations
Develop sensor calibration, debiasing, outlier rejection, residual monitoring, and fault‑handling approaches
Build simulation environments to evaluate navigation and autonomy performance across nominal and off‑nominal scenarios
Develop flight‑ready navigation and perception software in C++ and Python
Integrate algorithms into onboard flight software and embedded computing environments
Validate system performance through software‑in‑the‑loop and hardware‑in‑the‑loop testingClose the full perception‑to‑control loop on flight‑like hardware
Analyze estimator performance, covariance consistency, sensor behavior, and navigation uncertainty
Develop autonomous capabilities that allow spacecraft to perceive, approach, align with, and interact with another vehicle
Define system requirements and technical roadmaps for future generations of spacecraft perception and navigation
Support flight operations, telemetry analysis, on‑orbit performance monitoring, and anomaly investigations
Contribute to absolute spacecraft navigation and orbit‑state estimation after multiple spacecraft are operating as a combined vehicle
Qualifications
Bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering, electrical engineering, robotics, computer science, physics, mathematics, or a related technical field
4+ years of professional experience in perception, navigation, state estimation, sensor fusion, autonomy, or closely related algorithm development
Strong understanding of real‑time state estimation and probabilistic filtering
Experience developing systems that estimate position, pose, motion, or state from real‑world sensor data
Strong background in sensor fusion, uncertainty propagation, observability, covariance analysis, and estimator tuning
Experience developing measurement models and integrating multiple sensing modalities into navigation systems
Strong C++ and Python development skills
Experience deploying algorithms onto physical robotic, autonomous, aerospace, or embedded systems
Ability to take ownership of a technically complex subsystem from requirements and architecture through implementation and testing
Ability to work independently and make sound technical decisions in a fast‑moving startup environment
Preferred Experience
Experience building perception or navigation systems for spacecraft, autonomous vehicles, drones, robotics, or other autonomous platforms
Experience with relative navigation, rendezvous, proximity operations, docking, formation flight, or multi‑agent systems
Background in computer vision, visual navigation, visual‑inertial odometry, relative pose estimation, or feature‑based perception
Deep experience with Kalman filtering, EKF, UKF, nonlinear estimation, covariance tuning, residual analysis, adaptive estimation, or related techniques
Experience working with optical, camera, range, RF, inertial, or other navigation sensors
Experience with sensor characterization, calibration, debiasing, image processing, and measurement processing
Familiarity with SLAM, localization, tracking, mapping, or other robotics perception methods
Experience developing autonomous decision‑making or closed‑loop robotic behaviors
Experience with hardware‑in‑the‑loop testing and high‑fidelity simulation
Familiarity with embedded software development and real‑time computing constraints
Understanding of spacecraft dynamics, orbital mechanics, orbit determination, or high‑fidelity orbit propagation
Master's or PhD in robotics, aerospace engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, physics, or a related discipline
Experience taking a perception, navigation, or autonomy system from early development through real‑world deployment
Why Join Us
Own a mission‑critical spacecraft perception and navigation capability from the ground up
Define the architecture rather than inherit a mature or legacy system
Work across perception, autonomy, GNC, avionics, embedded software, simulation, and flight hardware
Apply robotics and autonomous systems technology to a new class of spacecraft
Join a well‑funded seed‑stage company as it moves toward flight demonstrations and operational systems
Meaningful equity ownership
Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage
Short- and long-term disability insurance
Life insurance
Paid parental leave
Three weeks of paid vacation
10+ paid holidays per year
Compensation Details
$160,000 - $190,000
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Worksite address
golden, CO, 80401, US
Who can apply
Review the original listing for work authorization, qualifications and employer requirements.