Backend Engineer - Mission Operations Services

Loftorbital; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 130,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Loft Orbital is seeking a Backend Engineer to join our Mission Operations Services (MOS) team. You’ll build and scale backend services that let Loft operators and customers command, monitor, and automate our satellite fleet through Cockpit, our mission control system.

This hands-on role involves working across multiple satellite platforms and collaborating closely with backend, flight software, embedded systems, test, and space infrastructure teams to deploy reliable end-to-end services.

Qualifications

• Backend development experience in production environments.
• Solid Python development experience in production.
• Experience with Docker and container-based development.
• Hands-on experience with backend web development frameworks (Django/Flask/FastAPI).
• Proven API design skills (HTTP/GraphQL/REST).
• Experience with Django and/or GraphQL.
• Strong database fundamentals (Postgres/time-series).
• Exposure to Kubernetes in production.
• Background in distributed or real-time systems.

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 a focus on safety and observability.
• 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 infrastructure teams to integrate new satellite buses and capabilities into Cockpit.
• Support internal users of Cockpit by improving APIs, workflows, and debugging tools.
• Participate in spacecraft operations through SatDevOps rotations and assist real-time incident response when needed.

Skills

Backend development

Python

API design

Distributed systems

SatDevOps familiarity

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Django

Flask

FastAPI

GraphQL

PostgreSQL

InfluxDB/TimescaleDB

Job description

Loft Orbital is looking for a Backend Engineer to join our Mission Operations Services (MOS) team. MOS owns the backend services that let Loft operators and customers command, monitor, and automate our satellite fleet through Cockpit, our mission control system. You’ll help build and scale the microservices that sit between ground and flight software, turning high‑level intent into safe, reliable on‑orbit operations.

You’ll work across multiple satellite platforms and collaborate closely with backend, flight software, embedded systems, test, and satellite operations teams. This is a hands‑on engineering role where you’ll both build new systems and help debug live missions. We also offer SatDevOps training, so you don’t just write the tools - you actually use them to operate spacecraft.

If you’re excited about building backend systems that directly control satellites - and you like the idea of both shipping code and helping fly missions - we’d love to hear from you.

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 a strong focus on safety, robustness, and observability.
• Write production backend code in Python, owning services end‑to‑end from design and implementation through deployment and maintenance.
• Collaborate with flight software, embedded software, integration and test, and space infrastructure teams to integrate new satellite buses and capabilities into Cockpit.
• Support internal users of Cockpit (operators, test engineers, solutions engineers) by improving APIs, workflows, and debugging tools.
• Have the opportunity to take part in spacecraft operations through SatDevOps rotations, occasionally helping investigate anomalies and supporting real‑time incident response when needed.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of relevant backend software engineering experience in production environments.
• Solid Python development experience in a production environment.
• Experience with Docker and container‑based development.
• Hands‑on experience with backend web development frameworks (e.g., Django, Flask, FastAPI, etc.).
• Proven API design skills (designing, documenting, and maintaining HTTP/GraphQL/REST‑style APIs).
• Experience with Django and/or GraphQL.
• Strong database fundamentals and practical experience (e.g., Postgres, time‑series DBs).
• Exposure to Kubernetes in production.
• Familiarity with InfluxDB / TimescaleDB or other time‑series systems.
• Background in mission‑critical, distributed, or real‑time systems (space or otherwise).

Who We Are

Founded in 2017, Loft provides governments, companies, and research institutions with a fast, reliable, and simple way to deploy missions in orbit.

We integrate, launch, and operate spacecraft, offering end‑to‑end missions as a service across Earth observation, IoT connectivity, on‑orbit AI, national security missions, and more. Leveraging our existing space infrastructure and an extensive inventory of satellite buses, Loft is reducing years‑long integration and launch timelines to months. With more than 30 missions flown, Loft’s flight heritage and proven technologies enable customers to focus on their mission objectives.

With a growing fleet on track to reach 30 satellites by 2027, we are scaling up quickly across our offices in San Francisco, CA | Golden, CO | and Toulouse, France to meet accelerating demand for space infrastructure.