Flight Safety Software Test Engineer (Space Ops)

Peraton; Fort Belvoir, Northern (VA, KY); Hybrid; USD 104,000 - 166,000; Full time

Job summary

Peraton is seeking an intermediate Software Test Engineer to support Flight Safety (FS) systems in a national security space mission environment. You will test, validate, and integrate mission-critical software tools used for conjunction assessment, space object tracking, and ground threat deconfliction analysis.

You will assist in test planning, system validation, and operational verification of FS software tools in 24/7 operations, collaborating with developers, system engineers, and operators

Qualifications

• Active TS/SCI with adjudicated polygraph.
• Experience with Flight Safety or astrodynamics test tools (e.g., STK, ASW SuperCombo) or STK Level 2 certification.
• Experience validating or testing systems involving RSO catalogs, ephemeris data, and orbital propagation models.

Responsibilities

• Support integration and verification testing of new data sources and software capabilities within legacy and next-generation FS systems
• Design, execute, and document software test plans, regression tests, and operational validation scenarios in test and pre-production environments
• Use Bash and Python scripts to support automated testing, data validation, troubleshooting, and system analysis in Linux-based classified environments
• Validate system performance by executing conjunction assessment and screening workflows, including RSO-to-RSO and RSO-to-ground proximity analysis
• Perform pre- and post-launch validation of TLEs, state vectors, and maneuver ephemeris data against cataloged RSOs to ensure collision risk mitigation logic is functioning correctly
• Operate and validate orbit propagation and analysis tools (e.g., STK or ASW-type systems), ensuring correct input handling, output accuracy, and reporting consistency
• Support defect identification, root cause analysis, and issue tracking for software anomalies discovered during test and operational use
• Participate in test readiness reviews, flight safety meetings, and operational training/exercise events
• Develop and maintain test documentation, validation reports, and user/training materials, and provide hands-on instruction (OJT) to team members
• Collaborate with engineers, operators, and external stakeholders to ensure system changes meet operational requirements and safety thresholds

Skills

Flight safety testing

Astrodynamics

Bash scripting

Python scripting

Test planning

Education

Ph.D.

MS/MA

BS/BA

AS/AA

Tools

STK

ASW SuperCombo

Job description

Peraton is seeking an intermediate Software Test Engineer to support Flight Safety (FS) systems in a national security space mission environment. You will test, validate, and integrate mission-critical software tools used for conjunction assessment, space object tracking, and ground threat deconfliction analysis.

You will assist in test planning, system validation, and operational verification of FS software tools in 24/7 operations, collaborating with developers, system engineers, and operators