Flight Software Engineer

Cowboy Space Corp.; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 200,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity in Cowboy Space Corp.

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

401(k) retirement savings plan

Paid time off

10 paid holidays per calendar year

Paid parental leave

Relocation assistance if applicable

Daily lunch in the office and snacks

Job summary

Cowboy Space Corp. in San Carlos, CA or Seattle, WA is seeking a Senior Flight Software Engineer to own the payload software on our spacecraft. You will unify architecture for attitude and pointing state machines, on-board command handling, and telemetry storage, aiming for a near-term on-orbit demonstration.

You will collaborate with GNC, avionics, electrical and systems engineers, build automated tests including HIL, and mentor teammates to raise software quality.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience developing flight software or safety-critical systems.
• Strong Rust/C/C++ systems programming; experience with real-time/embedded designs.
• Experience leading technically, architecture definition and mentoring.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the technical lead and owner for payload flight software, from architecture through on-orbit operations.
• Design, develop, and test flight software in Rust for attitude and pointing state machines, command handling, and telemetry/data storage.
• Define the software architecture, coding patterns, and conventions adopted across the flight software team.
• Establish and uphold the bar for flight-quality software: determinism, fault tolerance, testability, and safe behavior under failure.
• Design and implement fault detection, isolation, and recovery (FDIR) behaviors at the software level.
• Build and maintain automated test infrastructure, including simulation and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing.
• Collaborate closely with GNC, avionics, electrical, and systems engineers to define interfaces and system behavior.
• Support spacecraft integration, environmental test campaigns, and launch and early-orbit operations.
• Investigate anomalies across hardware/software boundaries, perform root cause analysis, and drive fixes to closure.
• Mentor engineers on the team and review designs and code to raise overall software quality.
• Help drive the team toward a near-term on-orbit demonstration, making pragmatic scope and risk tradeoffs along the way.

Skills

Flight software

Rust

Real-time systems

Embedded systems

State machines

Leadership

Education

Bachelor's or advanced degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related field

Tools

HIL testing

Simulation

RTOS

Job description

Location: San Carlos, CA or Seattle, WA (on-site)

Cowboy Space Corp. is building the infrastructure to power and connect the orbital economy. Our satellites operate in Low Earth Orbit to collect sunlight and enable a new class of capabilities—from powering on-orbit compute, to transmitting energy via infrared lasers (space-to-earth and space-to-space), powering on-orbit compute to delivering secure, high-bandwidth optical data. By rethinking how energy and data are generated and distributed in space, we’re unlocking entirely new ways to operate both in orbit and on Earth.

Founded in 2024 by Baiju Bhatt (co-founder of Robinhood), Cowboy Space Corp. is backed by leading investors and built by a team from top aerospace and defense organizations. We’re moving quickly to solve complex technical challenges and build a new category of space infrastructure.

The Role

We're looking for a Senior Flight Software Engineer to own the software that flies on our spacecraft. You'll be responsible for the payload flight software—written in Rust—spanning attitude and pointing state machines, on-board command handling, and telemetry and data storage. Today this work is distributed across several engineers; we need a senior technical owner to unify the architecture, set the patterns and conventions the team builds on, and drive the software toward a near-term on-orbit demonstration.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the technical lead and owner for payload flight software, from architecture through on-orbit operations
• Design, develop, and test flight software in Rust for attitude and pointing state machines, command handling, and telemetry/data storage
• Define the software architecture, coding patterns, and conventions adopted across the flight software team
• Establish and uphold the bar for flight-quality software: determinism, fault tolerance, testability, and safe behavior under failure
• Design and implement fault detection, isolation, and recovery (FDIR) behaviors at the software level
• Build and maintain automated test infrastructure, including simulation and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing
• Collaborate closely with GNC, avionics, electrical, and systems engineers to define interfaces and system behavior
• Support spacecraft integration, environmental test campaigns, and launch and early-orbit operations
• Investigate anomalies across hardware/software boundaries, perform root cause analysis, and drive fixes to closure
• Mentor engineers on the team and review designs and code to raise overall software quality
• Help drive the team toward a near-term on-orbit demonstration, making pragmatic scope and risk tradeoffs along the way

Basic Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience (or equivalent practical experience) developing flight software or software for other high-reliability, safety-critical systems
• Experience with software that has flown on orbit, or equivalent deployment experience demonstrating judgment about what flight-quality software requires
• Strong systems programming skills in Rust, C, or C++, with willingness to work primarily in Rust
• Experience with real-time and embedded systems, including resource-constrained and fault-tolerant designs
• Experience designing and implementing state machines, command/telemetry handling, or similar spacecraft software functions
• Experience with hardware/software integration and testing on real hardware
• Demonstrated ability to lead technically: setting architecture, establishing conventions, and mentoring other engineers

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's or advanced degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field
• Prior experience as a technical lead or architect for a spacecraft flight software effort
• Production Rust experience, particularly in embedded or systems contexts
• Experience with attitude determination and control or pointing systems from the software side
• Experience with FDIR design, redundancy management, and autonomous fault response
• Experience building simulation, software-in-the-loop, and hardware-in-the-loop test environments
• Experience supporting launch, commissioning, and on-orbit operations, including anomaly investigation
• Familiarity with radiation effects and other space-environment considerations for software design
• Experience thriving in fast-paced, high-ownership startup environments with rapid iteration cycles

Compensation and Benefits

The salary range for this position is $200,000 – $250,000 annually. The actual base salary offered will depend on factors such as job-related skills, experience, qualifications, and internal equity.

• Equity in Cowboy Space Corp.
• Employees and their eligible dependents may enroll in medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k) retirement savings plan
• Paid time off
• 10 paid holidays per calendar year
• Paid parental leave
• Relocation assistance if applicable
• Daily lunch in the office and a fully stocked kitchen with beverages and snacks

ITAR Requirements

Export Control Requirement: To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), applicants must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about ITAR here.

Disclaimer

This job description is a summary of the primary duties and responsibilities of the job and position. It is not intended to be a comprehensive or all-inclusive listing of duties and responsibilities. Contents are subject to change at Cowboy Space Corp.’s discretion.

Cowboy Space Corp. is an equal employment opportunity employer. We consider individuals for employment or promotion according to their skills, abilities and experience. Cowboy Space Corp. is committed to complying with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, religious creed, age, national origin, ancestry, physical, mental or developmental disability, sex (which includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and medical conditions relating to pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding), veteran status, military status, marital or registered domestic partnership status, medical condition (including cancer or genetic characteristics), genetic information, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, as well as any other category protected by federal, state or local laws.