# Senior Controls Engineer, Optical Beam Pointing at Relativity Space

- Company: Relativity Space
- What the company does: Relativity Space builds reusable rockets that make access to space more reliable and routine—empowering science, exploration, and innovation beyond our planet. Backed by General Catalyst, Y Combinator and Lux.
- Company website: http://relativityspace.com/
- Type: Startups (AI role)
- Level: Senior
- Location: Long Beach, California, United States
- Work setup: On-site
- Posted: 2026-09-24
- Apply by: 2026-11-08
- Apply: https://boards.greenhouse.io/relativity/jobs/8841924002?gh_jid=8841924002
- Page: https://www.1752.vc/careers/jobs/relativity-space-senior-controls-engineer-optical-beam-pointing/

## About the role

As a Senior Controls Engineer within the Interplanetary Sciences Program, you will be the technical lead for optical beam pointing and control systems that enable high-precision optical communications for our 2028 Mars Orbiter mission. You will design, develop, and implement the control algorithms that measure the subsystem orientation using advanced sensor fusion and actively steer both spacecraft attitude and beam orientation to maintain precision optical links across interplanetary distances.

## What they're looking for

- An undergraduate or graduate degree (BS/MS/PhD) in Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Control Systems, Physics, or a similar technical discipline with 3+ years of related experience
- Strong background in control systems design and implementation, including classical and modern control theory, state-space methods, and nonlinear control
- Experience with spacecraft guidance, navigation, and control systems for launch vehicles, satellites, or other aerospace applications
- Experience developing sensor fusion and state estimation algorithms, including Kalman filtering, observer design, or similar techniques
- Strong software development skills in at least one high-level language (e.g. C++, Rust) and at least one scripting language (e.g. Python, Matlab)
- Ability to work in a fast-paced startup environment with a high degree of autonomy and independence

Tags: Interplanetary