Optical Engineer - Pointing, Acquisition & Tracking (PAT) Optics
Star Catcher · Posted Nov 10, 2026
- Jacksonville, Florida, United States
- 3+ years
Design and develop optical architecture for the pointing, acquisition, and tracking (PAT) system of Star Catcher’s space-to-space power beaming technology.
Responsibilities
- Design the optical architecture of the PAT system, including FSMs, tracking sensors, beam splitters, boresight paths, and calibration sources
- Develop line-of-sight pointing and jitter budgets and track budget closure through test
- Design tracking-sensor optics for acquisition and fine tracking
- Define transmit/receive boresight alignment, calibration, and on-orbit maintenance approaches
- Specify and select FSMs and coarse-pointing optics; define pupil conjugation, angular range, and optical gain
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Optical Engineering
- Bachelor's degree in Physics
- Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering
- Bachelor's degree in a related technical discipline
- Nice to have: Space Lasercom or Beam Control