National Intern Day Spotlight: Rohith Vinnakota

Simulating the Future: My GNC Internship at Antaris

By Rohith Vinnakota

As someone deeply passionate about solving the growing problem of space debris, I’ve always believed that the first step toward sustainable space is smarter, more autonomous satellites. That’s what drew me to Antaris.

Antaris’s focus on simulating and streamlining satellite operations from mission planning to real-time control aligned perfectly with my long-term ambition: to build space systems capable of cleaning up orbital debris with minimal human intervention.

While still early in my college journey, I was eager to gain hands on experience with real spacecraft simulation tools, and Antaris offered the perfect playground through its mission simulation framework, ACP (Antaris Cloud Platform).

Digging into the Details: Testing the Brains of Satellites

At its core, my internship focused on spacecraft Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) which is the system that lets a satellite know where it is, where it’s going, and how to get there.

To ensure reliability, I worked on developing a suite of automated verification tests within the ACP simulation framework. The goal was to verify both individual functions (like vector math operations) and full-scale flight scenarios (like detumbling maneuvers right after launch).

Part 1: The Hidden Power of the Small Stuff

I began by writing MATLAB-based unit tests for the mathematical and kinematic utilities that form the building blocks of any spacecraft simulation:

• Safe trigonometric functions like safe_acos() that prevent calculation failures in edge conditions

• Unsigned integer operations with overflow logic (critical for embedded systems)

• Vector operations used in attitude control algorithms

While these utilities seem simple, validating them across edge cases helped me understand how precision at the micro level is vital to mission success at the macro level.

Part 2: Simulating Real Scenarios

Next, I turned my focus to mission-scale simulations, creating YAML-based test definitions for high-level scenarios like:

• Detumbling, where the satellite stabilizes its orientation after separation

• Monitoring telemetry like sunAngleError and systemMomentumMag to ensure success

I built a pipeline that would:

• Parse these YAML scenarios

• Generate time-series plots for engineers to visually inspect

• Save results and export JUnit reports for CI/CD integration using Azure DevOps

This experience changed how I saw verification not just as “bug catching” but as a living, automated process that builds confidence over time and across future software updates.

A Global Perspective: Representing Antaris in Japan

One of the most unexpected and inspiring parts of my internship was representing Antaris on a company trip to Japan. Visiting aerospace partners and startups gave me a broader lens on what the future of space looks like across the world.

I got to:

• Speak with engineers and CEOs about their debris mitigation strategies

• Learn about Japan’s advanced satellite manufacturing workflows

• Explore real use cases for detumbling and deorbiting tech

These interactions planted a new idea in my mind: what if we could build an integrated system that handles detumbling, debris capture, and deorbiting all in one autonomous package?

What I Learned

From debugging edge-case trigonometric functions to simulating full spacecraft behavior, this internship taught me what goes into making GNC systems resilient. Some of my biggest takeaways:

• Precision matters: Small math errors can ripple into major mission failures. Tests must anticipate and allow for tolerances.

• Automation is trust: Verification isn’t just about “pass or fail” it’s about creating a system that stays reliable as it evolves.

• Context shapes vision: The Japan experience expanded how I think about debris remediation not just as an engineer, but as a future innovator.

A Glimpse Into the Future

This internship didn’t just sharpen my technical skills it gave me the confidence to start envisioning my own contributions to the field.

Moving forward, I plan to:

• Deepen my understanding of satellite dynamics and GNC modeling

• Develop more advanced verification tools that bridge simulation and real flight data

• Explore early research partnerships to build a prototype “one-stop” debris removal system

I’ve also realized the importance of communication and professional networking skills I’m actively cultivating as I prepare to lead my own space-focused initiatives. 

Final Thoughts

Interning at Antaris gave me a rare combination of technical depth and global perspective. I’m grateful to my mentors and the entire Antaris team for trusting me with meaningful work, guiding me through complex challenges, and offering me a front-row seat to the future of satellite software.

This experience solidified my commitment to making space safer, smarter, and more sustainable. And I can’t wait to see where it leads next.