Software Engineer, Tracking & Orbital Systems

SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES CORP; Hawthorne (CA); On-site; USD 125,000 - 195,000; Full time

Job summary

SpaceX is seeking a Software Engineer, Tracking (Starshield) in Hawthorne, CA to develop mission-critical systems for Earth observation, communications, and hosted payloads. You’ll work on payload management, orbital prediction tools, and data analysis pipelines within the Starshield GNC organization.

The role emphasizes end-to-end software lifecycle—design, implementation, testing, and deployment—with emphasis on collaboration and problem solving for an inspiring mission.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering, computer science, data science, or an engineering discipline.
• Software development experience in either C++ or Python.

Responsibilities

• Build software tools and construct scenarios to analyze system performance
• Develop prototypes to prove out key design concepts and quantify technical constraints
• Collaborate with other engineers to plan and organize the development of our products
• See your software through from start to finish: from determining the core requirements, to prototyping, developing, and testing, and to rollout and beyond

Skills

Distributed systems

Containerization

Version control

Performance profiling

Relational databases

Satellites/spacecraft

Math/physics

Clearance eligibility

Independent & team work

Education

Bachelors in relevant field

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

PostgreSQL

CockroachDB

Job description

SpaceX is seeking a Software Engineer, Tracking (Starshield) in Hawthorne, CA to develop mission-critical systems for Earth observation, communications, and hosted payloads. You’ll work on payload management, orbital prediction tools, and data analysis pipelines within the Starshield GNC organization.

The role emphasizes end-to-end software lifecycle—design, implementation, testing, and deployment—with emphasis on collaboration and problem solving for an inspiring mission.