Backend Engineer for Satellite Mission Ops

Loft Orbital; Golden (CO); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Loft Orbital is seeking a Backend Engineer for its Mission Operations Services team to design, build, and scale backend services connecting ground and flight software for satellite operations.

You will work across platforms, collaborating with backend, flight software, embedded systems, test, and satellite ops teams to deliver robust, observable services and APIs in a fast-moving space environment.

Qualifications

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

Responsibilities

• Design and build backend tools for operations: services that power passes, autopilots, activities, and day-to-day satellite operations.
• Handle commands and telemetry across multiple satellite buses and ground segment providers with safety, robustness, and observability in focus.
• Write production backend code in Python, owning services end-to-end from design to deployment and maintenance.
• Collaborate with flight software, embedded software, integration and test, and space infra teams to integrate new satellite buses into Cockpit.
• Support internal Cockpit users by improving APIs, workflows, and debugging tools.
• Participate in SatDevOps rotations and assist in anomaly investigations and real-time incident response as needed.

Skills

Python

Docker

API design

Backend frameworks

4+ years

Tools

PostgreSQL

Kubernetes

GraphQL

Job description

Loft Orbital is seeking a Backend Engineer for its Mission Operations Services team to design, build, and scale backend services connecting ground and flight software for satellite operations.

You will work across platforms, collaborating with backend, flight software, embedded systems, test, and satellite ops teams to deliver robust, observable services and APIs in a fast-moving space environment.