Software Defined Radio Hardware Associate (Summer 2027)

Astranis Space Technologies Corp.; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 78,000 - 97,000; Full time

Job summary

Astranis is seeking a Hardware Design Associate for the Software Defined Radio Team in Northern California. This summer 2027 role is a 12-week, salaried Associate Engineer position designed for recent graduates who will have a bachelor’s degree before starting.

You will work on hard, meaningful problems related to satellite SDR hardware and software with direct contributions to spaceflight programs. You will design and test SDR hardware, bring up lab hardware, automate testing, and collaborate

Qualifications

• Hold a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering.
• Demonstrated ability to design, build, and test PCBA hardware from scratch.
• Passion for hardware development in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong foundation in analog, digital, mixed-signal, and RF design.

Responsibilities

• Design, simulate, implement, and test software defined radio hardware.
• Bring up and debug hardware in the lab with high-end instruments.
• Write code to evaluate performance and automate testing.
• Integrate these systems into the spacecraft with the team.

Skills

Hardware design

Digital design

RF design

PCBA design

Lab debugging

Python

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering

Tools

Altium Designer

ADS

MATLAB

Job description

Astranis builds advanced satellites for high orbits, expanding humanity's reach into the solar system. Today Astranis satellites provide dedicated, secure networks to highly-sophisticated customers across the globe - large enterprises, sovereign governments, and the US military.

With five satellites on orbit and many more set to launch soon, the company is servicing a backlog of more than $1 billion of commercial contracts. Astranis is the preferred satellite communications partner for buyers with stringent requirements for uptime, data security, network visibility, and customization.

Astranis has raised over $1.2 billion from some of the world's best investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Baillie Gifford, Blackrock, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, and Snowpoint, and employs a team of 500 engineers and entrepreneurs. Astranis designs, builds, and operates its satellites out of its 153,000 sq. ft. headquarters in Northern California, USA.

Hardware Design Associate, Software Defined Radio Team (Summer 2027)

Associate Engineer positions typically last for twelve weeks, and are salaried roles designed for students who have already received a bachelor's degree (or who will have done so before working at Astranis).

As an Associate Engineer, you will have an amazing opportunity to work on hard problems - we pride ourselves on giving everyone at Astranis a chance to do meaningful work on challenging projects, and our Associate Engineers work on projects that are of equal importance and difficulty to the projects we give our full-time employees. Many past Associate Engineers have designed and tested hardware/software that is heading to space on our first satellite, and many now work at Astranis full-time.

If you are still a college student, please apply to join us as an Intern.

Role

• Design, simulate, implement, and test our internally developed software defined radio hardware
• Bringup and debug hardware in the lab with top of the line instruments and equipment
• Write code to help evaluate performance and automate testing of satellite hardware
• Integrate these systems into the spacecraft by working closely with the rest of the team

Requirements

• A passion for hardware development, including working in a fast-paced environment and hands-on design and development
• Hold a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or equivalent
• Demonstrated ability to personally design, build, and test PCBA hardware from scratch (student design team projects, design competitions, personal projects)
• Solid EE foundation in one or more of the following areas:
• analog design (op amps, transistors, RLC filters)
• digital design (FPGAs, SOCs, SERDES, DDR, LVDS)
• mixed signal design (ADCs, DACs, power integrity)
• RF design (Lineups, s-parameters, impedance matching)

Bonus

• Experience building or using software defined radios
• Experience with Altium Designer (or other PCB design software)
• Experience with analysis software (ADS, ANSYS, Matlab)
• Experience with Python or similar programming languages
• Experience with soldering and rework
• Experience with EE lab bench equipment (power supply, oscilloscope, spectrum analyzers, signal generators, network analyzers, etc)

The base salary for this position is $1,925 per week.

U.S. Citizenship, Lawful Permanent Residency, or Refugee/Asylee Status Required

(To comply with U.S. Government space technology export regulations, applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the United States, or other protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3))

Our mission and products are built for everyone, regardless of gender, race, creed, or background. We believe in a diverse and inclusive workplace, and we invite all people to join our team and bring their unique perspectives to make us stronger.