Ground Software Engineer

Reflect Orbital; Hawthorne, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical/Dental/Vision coverage

HSA/FSA/401K access

Unlimited PTO

Free daily lunches

Job summary

Reflect Orbital in Hawthorne, CA seeks a Satellite Ground Software Engineer to build and maintain software for the operations team managing spacecraft. You will blend hands-on coding with platform and network engineering to ensure reliable end-to-end data paths among satellites, ground stations, and cloud infra.

You will deploy and operate what you build, troubleshoot across software, networks and hardware, and provide 24/7 on-call support for mission-critical ground systems.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in a technical field.
• 3+ years of experience developing ground systems software (services, APIs, and applications).
• Experience deploying and operating software on AWS, including container orchestration with Kubernetes and CI/CD systems.
• Strong understanding of networking protocols, routing, VPNs, and secure connectivity.
• Knowledge of satellite ground systems, including ground station networking, antenna interfaces, and RF subsystems.
• Experience working with Ground Station-as-a-Service (GSaaS) providers.
• Experience building services around databases and real‑time data (relational or time‑series).
• Familiarity with Linux environments and command‑line tools.
• Strong programming and scripting skills (Python, C++ preferred).
• Experience with DevOps tools and practices (Git, Docker, CI/CD).
• Experience building software for multi‑satellite constellation operations is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain ground software for satellite operations, including telemetry ingestion, processing, and display, and command generation and uplink workflows
• Build operator‑facing tools and dashboards to support the operations team
• Design and build automation for pass execution, routine commanding, and alerting to reduce manual operator workload
• Deploy and operate ground software on AWS and Kubernetes, maintaining CI/CD pipelines, configuration management, and infrastructure as code
• Support integration of ground station hardware and network interfaces, including radios, routers, and antenna controllers
• Configure and test Ground Station-as-a-Service (GSaaS) connections and validate end‑to‑end data paths between satellites, ground stations, and cloud infrastructure in coordination with mission operations and RF engineers
• Monitor system and network health using in‑house and third‑party observability tools
• Validate ground software against simulators and test environments prior to operational use
• Troubleshoot and resolve issues spanning software, networks, ground stations, and mission systems
• Provide 24/7 on‑call support for mission‑critical ground systems

Skills

Python

C++

Networking

Linux

Scripting

Education

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

Tools

AWS

Kubernetes

Docker

CI/CD

Job description

At Reflect, you will be expected to move fast, have a lot of ownership and, most importantly, be able to effect change. If this excites you, we are interested in hearing about your best work and accomplishments across any domain and from any points in your life.

About the Role

As a Satellite Ground Software Engineer, your core responsibilities will be to build and maintain the software our operations team will use to fly the spacecraft. This role blends hands‑on software development with platform and network engineering.

You’ll develop the services that move telemetry and commands between our satellites and mission control center, build the tools and automation that make operations safe and efficient, and integrate GSaaS providers into a reliable end‑to‑end system. You will deploy and operate what you build, troubleshooting issues that span software, networks, and hardware.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain ground software for satellite operations, including telemetry ingestion, processing, and display, and command generation and uplink workflows

• Build operator‑facing tools and dashboards to support the operations team

• Design and build automation for pass execution, routine commanding, and alerting to reduce manual operator workload

• Deploy and operate ground software on AWS and Kubernetes, maintaining CI/CD pipelines, configuration management, and infrastructure as code

• Support integration of ground station hardware and network interfaces, including radios, routers, and antenna controllers

• Configure and test Ground Station-as-a-Service (GSaaS) connections and validate end‑to‑end data paths between satellites, ground stations, and cloud infrastructure in coordination with mission operations and RF engineers

• Monitor system and network health using in‑house and third‑party observability tools

• Validate ground software against simulators and test environments prior to operational use

• Troubleshoot and resolve issues spanning software, networks, ground stations, and mission systems

• Provide 24/7 on‑call support for mission‑critical ground systems

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Computer Science or a related technical field, or equivalent experience

• 3+ years of experience developing ground systems software (services, APIs, and applications)

• Experience deploying and operating software on AWS, including container orchestration with Kubernetes and CI/CD systems

• Strong understanding of networking protocols, routing, VPNs, and secure connectivity

• Knowledge of satellite ground systems, including ground station networking, antenna interfaces, and RF subsystems

• Experience working with Ground Station-as-a-Service (GSaaS) providers

• Experience building services around databases and real‑time data (relational or time‑series)

• Familiarity with Linux environments and command‑line tools

• Strong programming and scripting skills (Python, C++ preferred)

• Experience with DevOps tools and practices (Git, Docker, CI/CD)

• Experience building software for multi‑satellite constellation operations is a plus

Even if you don’t meet 100% of the above qualifications, we are likely still interested in hearing from you. Hiring exceptional individuals is our #1 priority, and we believe that exceptional people often have highly unusual backgrounds.

We are also interested in carving out unique roles for unconventional people that we are excited about working with.

Benefits

Reflect Orbital’s success will hinge on our team, which is why our compensation and benefits plan is designed to reward our employees and support their families as generously as we’re able.

• Broad choice of medical/dental/vision coverage, Reflect covers 100% of each base‑policy

• Access to HSA, FSA, and 401K

• Unlimited paid time off, two‑weeks per year encouraged

• Healthy lunches provided daily

Equal Opportunity

Reflect Orbital is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Reflect Orbital is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

More about Reflect Orbital:

Learn more about our team here.