Flight Software Engineer (Mid to Principal)

As a Flight Software Engineer, you’ll develop the software that controls both on-orbit spacecraft systems and the ground infrastructure supporting them. You’ll be responsible for the full lifecycle of software systems—from architecture and prototyping, through test and validation, all the way to flight operations.

This role sits at the intersection of software, hardware, and mission design. You’ll work closely with other engineers to build fault-tolerant, real-time systems that are both resilient and extensible across multiple missions.

Aerospace experience is not required. We're looking for smart, motivated, and collaborative engineers who want to work on impactful systems in a mission-driven environment.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement autonomous flight software and mission-critical ground systems

• Develop fault-tolerant and real-time control systems for spacecraft and supporting infrastructure

• Create and maintain testing infrastructure—including unit, integration, and hardware-in-the-loop (HITL) testing

• Collaborate cross-functionally to prototype and validate system behavior across hardware/software boundaries

• Support flight operations and anomaly resolution for deployed missions

• Contribute to system architecture and influence software standards and practices across the team

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Physics, or related technical field

• Proficiency in C/C++ and/or Python, with strong understanding of systems-level programming

• Experience developing for Linux-based environments

• Familiarity with embedded systems or real-time operating systems (RTOS)

• Solid understanding of computer architecture, networking, and inter-process communication

• Demonstrated ability to write reliable, maintainable, and testable code

• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, iterative, and collaborative environment

Preferred Experience

• Design and implementation of fault-tolerant or distributed systems

• Experience with real-time flight software frameworks (e.g., F' (F Prime), cFS, or custom flight stacks)

• Development of hardware-in-the-loop (HITL) or software-in-the-loop (SIL) test environments

• Familiarity with telemetry, command & control systems, and mission operations workflows

• Experience optimizing software for performance or constrained environments (e.g., memory, compute, bandwidth)

• Exposure to satellite systems, avionics, or spaceflight hardware integration

Salary: $154k - $268k

‍