Senior Space Perception Engineer — Onboard Vision & Autonomy

Fortastra; Torrance (CA); On-site; USD 195,000 - 225,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Unlimited Paid Time Off

Comprehensive Healthcare

Equity

401(k)

Job summary

Fortastra in Torrance, CA is seeking a Senior Perception Engineer to advance computer vision and machine learning for autonomous spacecraft. You will develop perception pipelines, object detection and tracking in space, and integrate with Fortastra’s ROS-based toolchains for real-time onboard autonomy.

Join a small, high-impact team focused on flight-ready perception software written in Python and C++ on Linux.

Qualifications

• BS or MS in a relevant engineering/science field with strong academic record.
• 5–8 years of industry experience in robotics, perception, autonomy or related fields.
• Proficiency in Python and C++ with Linux experience.
• Experience with computer vision and machine learning for perception, including object detection/tracking.
• Familiarity with ROS or similar robotics frameworks and simulation tools.

Responsibilities

• Develop CV/ML algorithms for object detection, classification and tracking in space.
• Design perception software for multi-agent spacecraft scenarios inspired by UAVs/ADAS.
• Build perception pipelines processing data from onboard sensors, focusing on cameras.
• Curate datasets for training, validation and testing of models.
• Integrate perception algorithms into Fortastra's simulation environment and ROS toolchains.
• Implement software in Python and C++ on Linux with flight-system interfaces.
• Collaborate with autonomy, GNC, and flight software to define interfaces and performance requirements.
• Contribute to software architecture for detecting/tracking space objects and edge-case handling.

Skills

Python

C++

Linux

Computer vision

Machine learning

ROS

Autonomy

Dataset curation

Team collaboration

Education

B.S. Computer Science / Computer Engineering / Electrical Engineering / Aerospace / Robotics

MS with 1+ year of relevant experience considered

Tools

ROS

Ubuntu

Job description

Fortastra in Torrance, CA is seeking a Senior Perception Engineer to advance computer vision and machine learning for autonomous spacecraft. You will develop perception pipelines, object detection and tracking in space, and integrate with Fortastra’s ROS-based toolchains for real-time onboard autonomy.

Join a small, high-impact team focused on flight-ready perception software written in Python and C++ on Linux.