Principal Satellite Flight Software Engineer

BLUE ORIGIN

Principal Satellite Flight Software Engineer developing robust flight software for TeraWave satellite communications. Working with cross-functional teams to deliver scalable software solutions for satellite systems.

Posted 6/12/2026full-timeLos Angeles • California, Colorado, Washington • 🇺🇸 United StatesLead💰 $230,773 - $323,081 per yearWebsite

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

Cyber SecurityLinuxPythonRTOSTCP/IP

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Architect, design, develop, and integrate core flight software for a next-generation satellite platform
Define scalable, reusable, and platform-independent flight software frameworks, services, and design patterns to support multiple spacecraft configurations and future growth
Architect, develop, and evolve key flight software components including core services, command and data handling (C&DH), telemetry, health monitoring, and fault-management infrastructure
Establish software architecture standards, coding guidelines, design patterns, and review practices to ensure maintainability, reliability, and mission readiness
Partner closely with systems, avionics, GNC, communications, power, propulsion, thermal, payload, and autonomy teams to translate vehicle and subsystem-level requirements into robust software implementations
Conduct software design reviews, code reviews, and technical trade studies related to performance, fault tolerance, redundancy, scalability, and portability
Support software integration, verification, and validation in software-in-the-loop (SIL), hardware-in-the-loop (HIL), and other mission-representative test environments
Develop and improve software engineering infrastructure including build systems, CI/CD pipelines, automated test frameworks, and debugging/diagnostic tools
Contribute to technical documentation including software architecture descriptions, interface control documents, verification plans, and test procedures
Design and implement secure OTA software update capabilities for spacecraft, including validation, authenticated delivery, rollback, version control, and safe deployment in mission-critical on-orbit environments
Ensure flight software architecture and implementation incorporate cybersecurity principles such as secure communications, access control, interface hardening, and resilient software design

Requirements

What you’ll need

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related technical field
10+ years of experience developing embedded software for spacecraft or other mission-critical real-time systems
Strong proficiency in C/C++ and Python
Experience with RTOS-based embedded software development with Embedded Linux, VxWorks, or QNX
Experience architecting and implementing complex flight software or mission-critical embedded software systems
Demonstrated technical depth across software design, implementation, and cross-functional integration
Experience with software lifecycle, configuration management, CI/CD, and verification/validation practices for mission-critical systems
Familiarity with communication protocols such as TCP/IP, UDP, CAN, I2C, SPI, and RS-422/485
Experience applying secure software development and cybersecurity best practices in embedded or mission-critical systems
Experience with embedded software testing methodologies.

Benefits

Comp & perks

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
Stock Options for all regular employees (working at least 20 hours/week)
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 company's intent to reward individual contributions and enable them to share in company's results, or other factors at company's sole discretion. Bonus amounts and eligibility are not guaranteed and subject to change and cancellation.

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills & Tools

CC++PythonRTOSEmbedded LinuxVxWorksQNXsoftware lifecycleCI/CDembedded software testing

Soft Skills

collaborationtechnical depthcommunicationproblem-solvingattention to detaildesign reviewcode reviewdocumentationcritical thinkingadaptability