Software Defined Radio Hardware Associate (Winter 2027)

Astranis Space Technologies Corp.; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 98,000 - 102,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Experience with SDRs

Altium Designer

ADS/Matlab

Python

Lab bench equipment

Competitive weekly pay

Job summary

Astranis Space Technologies Corp. is seeking a Software Defined Radio Hardware Associate for a twelve-week winter program. You will design, simulate, implement, and test SDR hardware, bring it up in the lab, and write code to evaluate performance and automate tests.

The role offers hands-on hardware development on space-grade projects, with the chance to contribute to systems that may head to space and to work closely with a fast-paced, mission-focused team.

Qualifications

• Currently pursuing or holding a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering.
• Hands-on hardware design experience in EE projects or competitions.
• Strong foundation in analog/digital/RF concepts and EDA tools.

Responsibilities

• Design, simulate, implement, and test SDR hardware.
• Bring up and debug hardware in the lab with instrumentation.
• Write code to evaluate performance and automate tests.
• Integrate systems with spacecraft teams for flight readiness.

Skills

Hardware design

PCB design

RF design

FPGA/SoC

Lab bring-up

Python

Test automation

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.

Software Defined Radio Hardware Associate (Winter 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.

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
• Currently pursuing a 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.