Avionics Associate Engineer (Summer 2027) New San Francisco

Astranis; San Francisco, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 74,000 - 101,000; Full time

Job summary

Astranis, a satellite company based in Northern California, is seeking a Summer 2027 Avionics Associate Engineer. The role offers hands-on work on flight hardware, test equipment, and firmware for spacecraft, with mentors and a path to full-time opportunities.

As an Associate Engineer, you will join the avionics team to design, test, and debug hardware, write evaluation software, and gain exposure to space-grade systems.

Qualifications

• Four-year EE or ECE degree, or equivalent.
• Plan to pursue graduate degree after internship.
• Experience with Python and/or C++.
• Hands-on hardware design, build and test.
• Interest in spacecraft systems and subsystems.
• US Citizenship or Green Card required.

Responsibilities

• Work with the avionics engineering team to build and test flight hardware.
• Design test equipment to validate designs under stressed conditions.
• Bring up and debug designs in the lab.
• Write code to evaluate performance and automate testing of satellite hardware.
• Assist with low level software to interface with spacecraft subsystems.

Skills

Python

C++

Hardware design

Lab testing

Space systems

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical or Computer Engineering

Tools

Altium Designer

LTSpice / SPICE simulators

Job description

Avionics Associate Engineer (Summer 2027)

Astranis builds advanced satellites for high orbits, expanding humanity's reach into the solar system. Today Astranis satellites provide dedicated, secure networks to highly-sophisticated customers across the globe - large enterprises, sovereign governments, and the US military.

With five satellites on orbit and many more set to launch soon, the company is servicing a backlog of more than $1 billion of commercial contracts. Astranis is the preferred satellite communications partner for buyers with stringent requirements for uptime, data security, network visibility, and customization.

Astranis has raised over $1.2 billion from some of the world’s best investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Baillie Gifford, Blackrock, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, and Snowpoint, and employs a team of 500 engineers and entrepreneurs. Astranis designs, builds, and operates its satellites out of its 153,000 sq. ft. headquarters in Northern California, USA.

Avionics Associate Engineer (Summer 2027)

Associate Engineer positions typically last for twelve weeks, and are salaried roles designed for students who have already received a bachelor's degree, and plan to return to receive their Master's following their Associate role at Astranis. As an Associate Engineer, you will have an amazing opportunity to work on hard problems - we pride ourselves on giving everyone at Astranis a chance to do meaningful work on challenging projects, and our Associate Engineers work on projects that are of equal importance and difficulty to the projects we give our full‑time employees. Many past Associate Engineers have designed and tested hardware/software that is heading to space on our first satellite, and many now work at Astranis full‑time. If you are still a college student, please apply to join us as an Intern.

Role

• Work with the avionics engineering team to build and test flight hardware
• Design test equipment to validate designs across a wide range of stressed conditions
• Bring up and debug designs in the lab
• Write code to help evaluate performance and automate testing of satellite hardware
• Assist with low level software to interface with various spacecraft subsystems

Requirements

• Have a four-year degree in electrical or computer engineering (or equivalent technical degree), with plans to pursue a graduate degree following your time at Astranis.
• Interest in learning about, designing, and working with various spacecraft systems and subsystems
• A passion for hardware development, including working in a fast-paced environment and hands‑on design and development
• Experience with Python and/or C++
• Demonstrated ability to personally design, build, and test hardware from scratch
• US Citizenship or Green Card
• Don't meet them all? Not a problem. Please apply even if you do not meet all these criteria.

Bonus

• Experience with Altium Designer (or other PCB design software)
• Experience with SPICE‑based simulators (LTSpice, PSPICE, ADS, etc)
• Comfortable with soldering and rework
• Familiarity with standard EE lab bench (power supply, oscilloscope, multimeter, etc)
• Familiarity with basic switched mode converter design (boost and buck converters)

The base salary for this position is $1,925 per week.

$1,925 - $1,925 USD

U.S. Citizenship, Lawful Permanent Residency, or Refugee/Asylee Status Required

(To comply with U.S. Government space technology export regulations, applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the United States, or other protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3))

Our mission and products are built for everyone, regardless of gender, race, creed, or background. We believe in a diverse and inclusive workplace, and we invite all people to join our team and bring their unique perspectives to make us stronger.

As set forth in Astranis's Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.