GNC Engineering Intern

About Dispatch

Dispatch is building refurbishable reentry vehicles for in-space manufacturing. Spark-1 is our first vehicle, a 150 kg spacecraft that hosts payloads in orbit and brings them back to Earth.

Our vehicles are designed, built, and operated in-house, from spacecraft systems and flight software through reentry and recovery.

About This Role

Internships at Dispatch are in person in San Francisco. We're hiring for Spring 2027 and Summer 2027. In your application, tell us which term you're applying for, or both. Candidates must be actively pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree. Due to U.S. export control requirements, candidates must be a U.S. person (U.S. citizen or permanent resident). We are unable to sponsor visas.

The GNC (Guidance, Navigation & Controls) team is responsible for the analysis, simulation, algorithms, and flight performance that take Spark-1 from launch vehicle separation through on-orbit operations, deorbit, and atmospheric entry.

Interns at Dispatch work directly on problems that affect upcoming missions. You'll own meaningful technical work and collaborate closely with engineers across flight software, avionics, and vehicle systems as we design, test, and operate Spark-1.

Responsibilities

• Own or contribute to GNC and astrodynamics analysis, algorithms, and simulations for Spark-1

• Develop and test spacecraft GNC software, sensors, and actuators in simulation, software-in-the-loop, and hardware-in-the-loop environments

• Build flight dynamics and mission analysis tools for orbit propagation, navigation, maneuver planning, targeting, scheduling, and mission operations

• Design and implement algorithms for spacecraft attitude determination and control, orbit determination, autonomous maneuver execution, collision avoidance, and deorbit targeting

• Perform trajectory design, optimization, Monte Carlo, and dispersion analysis for on-orbit operations, deorbit, and atmospheric reentry

Basic Qualifications

• Currently pursuing a BS, MS, or PhD in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, physics, applied mathematics, or a related technical field

• Experience through coursework, research, internships, or engineering project teams in one or more areas of GNC, astrodynamics, spacecraft dynamics, orbital mechanics, controls, navigation, or flight simulation

• Familiarity with Python, MATLAB, C/C++, Rust, or similar programming languages

• Comfortable applying first-principles engineering analysis and turning that work into simulation or software

Preferred Skills and Experience

• At least one year of experience on a technical project team such as CubeSat, Rocket Team, AIAA Design-Build-Fly, Formula SAE, or similar

• Previous experience developing GNC, astrodynamics, simulation, or flight dynamics software for aerospace systems

• Familiarity with spacecraft guidance, state estimation, attitude or trajectory control, Monte Carlo analysis, trajectory optimization, or hardware-in-the-loop simulation

• Experience with tools such as TRICK, 42, GMAT, STK, Orekit, MATLAB/Simulink, or custom spacecraft simulation frameworks

• Strong communication and technical documentation skills

Due to U.S. export control requirements, candidates must be a U.S. person (U.S. citizen or permanent resident). We are unable to sponsor visas.