Beam Planning Software Engineer

K2 Space•Los Angeles, CA

About The Position

K2 is building the largest and highest-power satellites ever flown, unlocking performance levels previously out of reach across every orbit. Backed by $450M from leading investors including Altimeter Capital, Redpoint Ventures, T. Rowe Price, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Alpine Space Ventures, and others – with an additional $500M in signed contracts across commercial and US government customers – we’re mass-producing the highest-power satellite platforms ever built for missions from LEO to deep space. The rise of heavy-lift launch vehicles is shifting the industry from an era of mass constraint to one of mass abundance, and we believe this new era demands a fundamentally different class of spacecraft. Engineered to survive the harshest radiation environments and to fully capitalize on today’s and tomorrow’s massive rockets, K2 satellites deliver unmatched capability at constellation scale and across multiple orbits. With multiple launches planned through 2026 and 2027, we're Building Bigger to develop the solar system and become a Kardashev Type II (K2) civilization. If you are a motivated individual who thrives in a fast-paced environment and you're excited about contributing to the success of a groundbreaking Series C space startup, we’d love for you to apply. The Role You will be responsible for designing and optimizing the planning systems that drive how some of the largest satellites ever flown deliver value across a range of missions, including communications and sensing. You will develop the tools and production infrastructure that address hard questions about on-orbit performance: link feasibility, resource allocation, and how a constellation can serve complex, competing demands at scale. Alongside this, you will simulate and verify the software used to fly and orchestrate these spacecraft, and, where needed, step into different parts of the stack to drive solutions end-to-end. In your first 6 months you will build simulation and planning infrastructure that models beam coverage, interference, and capacity across multiple spacecraft, enabling rigorous analysis of real mission scenarios and informing critical business and engineering decisions. In your first year you will integrate these planning tools into production infrastructure controlling real vehicles.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in physics, aerospace/mechanical/electrical engineering, computer science, math, or a STEM field, or 3+ years of professional experience in software engineering or a relevant field
Development experience in Rust, C++, or similar compiled language
Experience using scientific Python (NumPy, SciPy, etc.), Julia, MATLAB, or similar

Nice To Haves

3+ years of professional experience in software engineering
Master's or PhD in physics, aerospace engineering, electrical engineering, operations research, or a STEM field
Experience with optimization algorithms, graph theory, and/or scheduling systems
Experience with space communication modeling: RF propagation, link budgets, interference, ground station networks
Experience with Monte Carlo simulations and probability/statistics
Experience with spacecraft modeling and orbital mechanics
Experience defining and creating simulation systems
Experience working in Rust production environments
Experience with continuous integration and continuous delivery systems

Responsibilities

Design and implement sensing and communication beam (RF/laser) planning algorithms that optimize for coverage, capacity, and other objectives across entire satellite constellations.
Develop physics-based models of spacecraft communications systems, including antenna patterns, link budgets, and mechanical constraints.
Perform analyses of constellation capabilities and network performance to support business and engineering decisions, including coverage gaps, capacity planning, and demand modeling.
Create and maintain simulation software infrastructure for our 20kW+ spacecraft.
Develop software models of spacecraft subsystems like propulsion and attitude control as needed to support integrated analysis.
Create robust tooling for rapid deployment of quality code.
Perform data analysis and anomaly investigation to identify and resolve on-orbit problems.