Senior Satellite Flight Software Engineer

Blue Origin; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 165,000 - 231,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision insurance

Paid parental leave

401(k) with company match

Stock options for regular employees

Life insurance

Job summary

Blue Origin seeks a Satellite Flight Software Engineer III to design, develop, and verify onboard software for the TeraWave constellation. You will implement C&DH, telecommand/telemetry processing, and time management across spacecraft subsystems.

The role emphasizes hands‑on software engineering for mission‑critical embedded systems with cross‑functional collaboration and continuous integration in a fast‑paced spaceflight environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related technical field.
• 6+ years of experience in spacecraft flight software or embedded software development.
• Strong programming skills in C, C++, and Python.
• Solid understanding of Object‑Oriented problem solving and software layering to facilitate modularity and reuse.
• Experience with real‑time operating systems (RTOS) such as Linux, QNX, VxWorks, RTEMS or equivalent.
• Experience developing software for spacecraft avionics functions such as C&DH, telecommand and telemetry processing, or hardware I/O management.
• Familiarity with CCSDS standards for spacecraft telecommand and telemetry processing.
• Familiarity with cybersecurity principles for space systems including secure boot, command authentication, or encrypted communication links.
• Experience with software unit testing frameworks such as Google Test or equivalent for embedded C/C++ environments.
• Experience with inter‑process communication (IPC) mechanisms including sockets, shared memory, message queues, or publish‑subscribe middleware.
• Experience with cross‑compilation toolchains and embedded Linux build systems such as CMake, Make, Yocto, or Buildroot.
• Experience with software lifecycle, configuration management (Git), CI/CD, and containerized environments.
• Experience with verification/validation practices for mission‑critical embedded software systems.
• Experience with communication protocols such as TCP/IP, UDP, CAN, I2C, SPI, and RS-422/485.
• Familiarity with static analysis tools and flight software coding standards such as MISRA C/C++.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and implement flight software for TeraWave's command and data handling (C&DH) software, including command routing, onboard data management, telemetry generation, and subsystem control
• Develop telecommand and telemetry processing software for uplink command validation, scheduling, and execution, and onboard health and status data collection and downlink management
• Develop spacecraft time management software including onboard time correlation, synchronization with GPS/GNSS time references, and precision timing distribution across vehicle subsystems
• Create and maintain software interfaces between C&DH and other spacecraft subsystems to support safe and secure vehicle operations
• Collaborate with hardware, systems, and autonomy engineers to define software requirements, interfaces, and behavioral boundaries across subsystems
• Develop and integrate simulation environments and models to test FSW across a range of nominal and off‑nominal operational scenarios
• Support software architecture, design reviews, and systems engineering trade studies
• Participate in software integration, verification, and validation testing including software-in-the-loop (SIL) and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) environments
• Support on‑orbit operations and troubleshooting of deployed spacecraft
• Mentor junior engineers and contribute to team technical development

Skills

C/C++

Python

RTOS

CCSDS

Cybersecurity

GTest

IPC

Git

CI/CD

CMake

Yocto/Buildroot

Embedded Linux

Education

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

Master’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field

Tools

CMake

Yocto

Job description

Blue Origin seeks a Satellite Flight Software Engineer III to design, develop, and verify onboard software for the TeraWave constellation. You will implement C&DH, telecommand/telemetry processing, and time management across spacecraft subsystems.

The role emphasizes hands‑on software engineering for mission‑critical embedded systems with cross‑functional collaboration and continuous integration in a fast‑paced spaceflight environment.