Satellite Flight Software Engineer II - TeraWave

About the role

This position is part of Blue Origin's 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 5,408 optically interconnected satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) and medium Earth orbit (MEO), providing enterprise-grade connectivity for critical operations.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and implement flight software for TeraWave satellite bus subsystems including thermal control, power management, and propulsion control components
• Create and implement closed-loop control software for spacecraft subsystems, including control algorithms supporting thermal regulation, power distribution, and propulsion management
• Create and maintain software interfaces between spacecraft subsystems to support safe and integrated 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

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related technical field
• 3-5 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 subsystems such as thermal, power, or propulsion
• 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
• Familiarity 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++

Qualifications

• Master’s 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 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

Skills

• Hands-on 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 subsystems such as thermal, power, or propulsion
• 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
• Familiarity 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++
• Experience with on-orbit spacecraft operations or satellite constellation management
• Experience with over-the-air (OTA) software updates
• 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

Benefits

• 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%
• 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
• Stock Options for all regular employees (working at least 20 hours/week)