Space Systems Engineer: Satellite Ops & Data Automation

Planetlabs; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 114,000 - 143,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare plans

HSA with company contribution

Paid time off

Parental leave

Wellness program

Home office reimbursement

Phone & Internet reimbursement

Equity

Commuter benefits

Volunteering PTO

Job summary

Planet is hiring a Space Systems Engineer to support the Space Operations team. You will develop and maintain critical software for satellite operations, analyze data, and triage anomalies across a global fleet.

This role emphasizes automation, collaboration with hardware and software teams, and producing actionable operational insights. Based in San Francisco with hybrid work, you will handle daily checks, on-orbit experiments, and software deployments while shaping next-generation spacecraft

Qualifications

• 2+ years of relevant work experience.
• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, computer science, or equivalent.
• Experience in software development, particularly in Python or similar languages.
• Familiarity with the space environment and its challenges.
• Data-driven mindset with experience in statistical analysis.
• Proactive approach to engineering and problem-solving.
• Effective interpersonal and collaboration skills within a technical team.

Responsibilities

• Conduct daily fleet checks and support On-Call shifts.
• Test and deploy flight software upgrades, debug satellite anomalies, and perform on-orbit experiments.
• Develop and maintain real-time, mission-critical software solutions for satellite operations.
• Write scripts to aggregate satellite data and generate system monitoring metrics.
• Analyze data to identify issues and inefficiencies in the full stack of services and propose solutions.
• Create and maintain operational procedures.
• Drive improvements to fleet capacity and productivity through process enhancements.
• Provide feedback to launch, manufacturing, and spacecraft engineering teams based on on-orbit performance, technical demonstrations, and forecasting models.
• Shape operational strategies for next-generation spacecraft.

Skills

Python

Data analysis

Team collaboration

Space environment familiarity

Proactive engineering

On-call support

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering, computer science, or equivalent

Tools

Git

GitLab

Docker

Jenkins

Bash

Linux

CI/CD

Datadog

Sentry

Job description

Planet is hiring a Space Systems Engineer to support the Space Operations team. You will develop and maintain critical software for satellite operations, analyze data, and triage anomalies across a global fleet.

This role emphasizes automation, collaboration with hardware and software teams, and producing actionable operational insights. Based in San Francisco with hybrid work, you will handle daily checks, on-orbit experiments, and software deployments while shaping next-generation spacecraft