SYSTEM INITIALIZING...

Alexander Burns

Aerospace Engineering Portfolio

Stanford University M.S. Aerospace Engineering (2028).
UC San Diego B.S. Aerospace Engineering Graduate (2026).
Specializing in Astrodynamics, Controls, and Autonomous Systems.

Summary

Incoming first year graduate student at Stanford. Experiences as a GNC and Systems Engineer and as a Satellite Operator from internships at Starfish Space, Planet Labs, and ViaSat. Prior research in optimization methods through the LSDO Lab at UCSD, and significant collaborative and technical skills learned from multiple project teams.

Internships

Starfish Space Otter Servicing Vehicle
SF
2026 Summer

Starfish Space — GNC Engineering Intern

Rendezvous and proximity operations flight software for the Otter servicing vehicle: a modular attitude control framework, high-fidelity solar array shadowing, and a SIL thermal controller.

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Planet Satellite
PL
2025 Summer

Planet — Systems Engineering Intern

Systems analysis and risk reduction for the Pelican Block II program. Built a power and drag simulation framework accurate to within 2%, and cleared un-characterized ferromagnetic payload materials as a GNC pointing risk.

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Viasat Control Center
VS
2023 – 2025

Viasat — Satellite Operations Intern

Two years operating GEO comsats on the SSL FS1300 and Boeing 702HP buses — station-keeping maneuver planning, Python tooling for TT&C interference mitigation, and live commanding under the SatPi program.

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Research

Stanford Space Rendezvous Laboratory
SL
Fall 2026 — Incoming

Stanford Space Rendezvous Laboratory (SLAB)

Joining as a M.S. student contributing to spacecraft rendezvous and distributed space systems.

LSDO
2025 – 2026

UCSD Design Optimization Laboratory

Concurrent quadrotor design and GNC optimization via nonlinear MPC. A segment-wise warm-start strategy made randomized racecourse configurations that previously stalled or diverged solve reliably.

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Projects

Skills

GNC & Astrodynamics

BasiliskStarfish Attitude ControlStarfish · Viasat GNC AlgorithmsStarfish · LSDO Orbital MechanicsViasat

Software

Flight SoftwareStarfish Python (NumPy, SciPy)Starfish · Planet · Viasat C++Starfish MATLABUCSD

Miscellaneous

OptimizationLSDO · Senior Design V&V and AI&TPlanet ANSYS FluentCertified

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