Backend Engineer – Satellite Mission Operations

Loft Orbital; Toulouse; Hybrid; EUR 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Up to 35 days PTO and flexible hours

Health and life insurance

Lunch vouchers

Cross-office travel (SF, CO, Toulouse)

Relocation assistance to Toulouse

Job summary

Loft Orbital is seeking a Backend Engineer to join the Mission Operations Services team. You will design and scale backend services that enable Loft operators and customers to command, monitor, and automate our satellite fleet through Cockpit.

You will work across satellite platforms with backend, flight software, and operations teams, writing production Python, using Docker, and integrating new satellite buses to Cockpit while supporting real-time mission operations.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of backend software engineering in production environments.
• Solid Python development experience in production systems.
• Experience with Docker and container-based development.
• Hands-on backend web development with frameworks such as Django, Flask, or FastAPI.
• Proven API design skills (HTTP/GraphQL/REST).

Responsibilities

• Design and build backend tools for operations powering passes, autopilots, activities, and day-to-day satellite ops.
• Handle commands and telemetry across multiple satellite buses with safety and observability focus.
• Write production backend code in Python, owning services end-to-end from design to deployment.
• Collaborate with flight software, embedded software, and test teams to integrate new buses.
• Support internal Cockpit users by improving APIs, workflows, and debugging tools.
• Participate in SatDevOps rotations and assist real-time incident response when needed.

Skills

4+ years backend experience

Python development

Docker

Backend web frameworks (Django, Flask,

API design (HTTP/GraphQL/REST)

Tools

Kubernetes

InfluxDB/TimescaleDB

Job description

Loft Orbital is seeking a Backend Engineer to join the Mission Operations Services team. You will design and scale backend services that enable Loft operators and customers to command, monitor, and automate our satellite fleet through Cockpit.

You will work across satellite platforms with backend, flight software, and operations teams, writing production Python, using Docker, and integrating new satellite buses to Cockpit while supporting real-time mission operations.