Onboard Software Engineer - Core Services

Loftorbital; Golden (CO); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical dental vision

Relocation assistance

401(k) and equity options

Daily catered lunches

Job summary

Loftorbital in Golden, CO invites a software engineer to join the Onboard Software group. You will design, implement, and test on-orbit software powering flight products environments and interfaces with the spacecraft bus.

You will review code, develop unit tests, and help evolve architecture while collaborating with cross-functional teams. The role offers exposure to the on-orbit fleet and multiple satellite programs.

Qualifications

• 2+ years of software engineering experience with C/C++ (C++11 or newer) and Python
• Familiarity with Git and CI tools (GitLab-CI, Jenkins)
• Experience with build systems (Make, CMake) and Docker
• Understanding of distributed architectures and networking (UDP, TCP, IP)
• Experience in developing multi-threaded applications and embedded Linux
• Proficiency with unit tests (pytest, Googletest, Unity) and middleware (gRPC, ZMQ/NATS)
• Experience with containerization (Docker, K3S)

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and refine onboard software with ownership and reliability
• Review code and ensure adherence to standards
• Design and implement unit tests for code
• Utilize version control and manage feature branches
• Contribute to onboard architecture via design proposals
• Improve software development processes and design standards
• Coordinate with downstream teams on releases
• Opportunity to operate on-orbit satellite fleet

Skills

C/C++

Python

Git

CI tools

Multi-threaded

Distributed systems

Networking

Go/Rust

Embedded Linux

Tools

Git

GitLab-CI

Jenkins

Make

CMake

Docker

Job description

Wanna join the adventure?

Loft’s Onboard Software group provides the on-orbit software that powers our core products. This is responsible for monitoring and control of major space program elements, including:

• Flight Products computational environments (including physical and virtual processors);
• Interfaces with external equipment (imagers, RF, ISL); and
• Interfaces with the spacecraft bus.

The Core Services team is responsible for high-level vehicle services and functions, including file transfer, time synchronization, automation, scheduling, attitude control, and navigation. Many of these services are reused across all satellite programs and form the foundation of our onboard architecture.

• Design, implement, and refine software with a high degree of ownership, driving impactful features from concept through delivery while ensuring robustness and reliability.
• Review code, provide clear feedback, and enforce adherence to established development processes, style guides, and design standards to maintain consistency and quality across the codebase.
• Design and implement unit tests for both self-authored and peer-authored code.
• Utilize version control systems to create feature branches, push code, and merge approved code into production branches.
• Contribute to the onboard software architecture through design proposals and collaborative review
• Participate in the review and enhancement of software development processes and design standards.
• Coordinate with downstream teams on the release, distribution and adoption of latest releases.
• In addition to responsibilities within onboard software, you’ll have the opportunity to directly be involved in operating our on-orbit fleet of satellites.

• 2+ years software engineering experience, using programming languages including C/C++ (C++11 or newer) and Python.
• Experience with version control systems such as Git
• Experience with continuous integration tools (e.g., GitLab-CI, Jenkins).
• Experience with build systems (e.g., Make, CMake).
• Understanding of distributed architecture.
• Familiarity with networking protocols (e.g., UDP, TCP, IP) and POSIX standards.
• Experience in developing multi-threaded applications.

• Familiarity with additional programming languages, such as Go or Rust.
• Experience with embedded Linux operation, including Yocto, device trees, systemd, and Linux on ARM platforms.
• Proficiency with unit test frameworks (e.g., pytest, Googletest, Unity) and keyword-driven test frameworks (e.g., Robot, Cucumber).
• Experience with middleware framework (gRPC, ZMQ/NATS, etc.)
• Experience with containerization technologies (Docker, K3S, systemd-nspawn)

• 100% company-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance option for employees and dependents
• Flexible Spending (FSA) and Health Savings (HSA) Accounts offered with an employer contribution to the HSA
• 100% employer paid Life, AD&D, Short-Term, and Long-Term Disability insurance
• Flexible Time Off policy for vacation and sick leave, and 12 paid holidays
• 401(k) plan and equity options
• Daily catered lunches and snacksInternational exposure to our team in France
• Fully paid parental leave; 14 weeks for primary caregiver and 10 weeks for secondary caregiver
• Carrot Fertility provides comprehensive, inclusive fertility healthcare and family-forming benefits with financial support
• Off-sites and many social events and celebrations
• Relocation assistance when applicable

*Research shows that while men apply to jobs where they meet an average of 60% of the criteria, women and other underrepresented people tend to only apply when they meet 100% of the qualifications. At Loft, we value respectful debate and people who aren’t afraid to challenge assumptions. We strongly encourage you to apply, even if you don’t check all the boxes.

Who We Are

Loft: Space Made Simple.

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.

As an international company your resume will be reviewed by people across our offices so please attach a copy in English.