Satellite Flight Software Engineer III TeraWave

Application close date:

At Blue Origin we envision millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth. Were working to develop reusable safe and low-cost space vehicles and systems within a culture of safety collaboration and inclusion. Join our team of problem solvers as we add new chapters to the history of spaceflight!

This position is part of Blue Origins TeraWave business unit a newly announced satellite communications network designed to deliver symmetrical data speeds of up to 6 Tbps anywhere on Earth. TeraWave consists of 5408 optically interconnected satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) and medium Earth orbit (MEO) providing enterprise-grade connectivity for critical operations.

We are seeking a Satellite Flight Software Engineer III to design develop and verify applications for TeraWaves satellite flight software subsystem. This role will be instrumental in building robust scalable flight software to support the expansion of TeraWave into a 5408-vehicle constellation. The ideal candidate is a hands-on engineer with experience developing reliable mission-critical software for onboard spacecraft avionics systems with emphasis on command and data handling (C&DH) telecommand and telemetry processing spacecraft time management hardware I/O interfaces and cybersecurity.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Design develop and implement flight software for TeraWaves command and data handling (C&DH) software including command routing onboard data management and telemetry generation
• Develop telecommand and telemetry processing software for uplink command validation scheduling and execution and onboard health and status data collection and downlink management
• Develop spacecraft time management software including onboard time correlation synchronization with GPS/GNSS time references and precision timing distribution across vehicle subsystems
• Create and maintain software interfaces between C&DH and other spacecraft subsystems to support safe and secure vehicle operations
• Collaborate with hardware systems and autonomy engineers to define software requirements interfaces and behavioral boundaries across subsystems
• Develop and integrate simulation environments and models to test FSW across a range of nominal and off-nominal operational scenarios
• Support software architecture design reviews and systems engineering trade studies
• Participate in software integration verification and validation testing including software-in-the-loop (SIL) and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) environments
• Support on-orbit operations and troubleshooting of deployed spacecraft
• Mentor junior engineers and contribute to team technical development

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelors degree in Computer Science Software Engineering Aerospace Engineering or related technical field
• 7 years of experience in spacecraft flight software or embedded software development
• Strong programming skills in C C and Python
• Experience with real-time operating systems (RTOS) such as Linux QNX VxWorks RTEMS or equivalent
• Experience developing software for one or more spacecraft avionics functions such as C&DH telecommand and telemetry processing or hardware I/O management
• Familiarity with CCSDS standards for spacecraft telecommand and telemetry processing
• Familiarity with cybersecurity principles for space systems including secure boot command authentication or encrypted communication links
• Experience with software unit testing frameworks such as Google Test or equivalent for embedded C/C environments
• Experience with inter-process communication (IPC) mechanisms including sockets shared memory message queues or publish-subscribe middleware
• Experience with cross-compilation toolchains and embedded Linux build systems such as CMake Make Yocto or Buildroot
• Experience with software lifecycle configuration management (Git) CI/CD and verification/validation practices for mission-critical embedded software systems
• Experience with communication protocols such as TCP/IP UDP CAN I2C SPI and RS-422/485
• Familiarity with static analysis tools and flight software coding standards such as MISRA C/C

Preferred Qualifications:

• Masters degree in Computer Science Software Engineering or related field
• Experience with on-orbit spacecraft operations or satellite constellation management
• Experience with over-the-air (OTA) software updates
• Experience with onboard time management precision timing interfaces or GPS-disciplined time synchronization
• Experience developing flight software for fault-tolerant or redundant avionics architectures such as dual-string or voting-based system designs
• Familiarity with NASA cFS F Prime or similar flight software frameworks
• Familiarity with spacecraft FDIR and autonomy software components and their interfaces
• Understanding of radiation effects on electronics and software-based mitigation techniques

Why Blue Origin

At Blue Origin were building the future of space-based connectivity through the TeraWave satellite communications network. As a Satellite Flight Software Engineer III you will design and test flight software and contribute directly to a large-scale satellite constellation delivering high-performance resilient global communications. Join a team solving complex mission-critical problems at the intersection of spacecraft software networking and systems integration.

Compensation Range for:

Other site ranges may differ

Culture Statement

Dont meet all desired requirements Studies have shown that some people are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single desired qualification. At Blue Origin we are dedicated to building an authentic workplace so if youre excited about this role but your past experience doesnt align perfectly with every desired qualification in the job description we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

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Applicants for employment at Blue Origin must be a U.S. citizen or national U.S. permanent resident (i.e. current Green Card holder) or lawfully admitted into the a refugee or granted asylum.

Background Check

• Required for all positions: Blues Standard Background Check

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Benefits

• Benefits include: Medical dental vision basic and supplemental life insurance paid parental leave short and long-term disability 401(k) with a company match of up to 5% and an Education Support Program.

• Paid Time Off: Up to four (4) weeks per year based on weekly scheduled hours and up to 14 company-paid holidays.

• Dependent on role type and job level employees may be eligible for benefits and bonuses based on the companys intent to reward individual contributions and enable them to share in the companys results or other factors at the companys sole discretion. Bonus amounts and eligibility are not guaranteed and subject to change and cancellation. Please check with your recruiter for more details.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Blue Origin is proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and is committed to attracting retaining and developing a highly qualified and dedicated work force. Blue Origin hires and promotes people on the basis of their qualifications performance and abilities. We support the establishment and maintenance of a workplace that fosters trust equality and teamwork. We provide all qualified applicants for employment and employees with equal opportunities for hire promotion and other terms and conditions of employment regardless of their race color religion sex sexual orientation gender identity national origin/ethnicity age physical or mental disability genetic factors military/veteran status or any other status or characteristic protected by federal state and/or local law. Blue Origin will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with applicable federal state and local laws including the Washington Fair Chance Act the California Fair Chance Act the Los Angeles Fair Chance in Hiring Ordinance and other applicable laws. For more information on Know Your Rights please see here.

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