Principal Satellite Flight Software Engineer - TeraWave
About The Position
At Blue Origin, we envision millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth. We’re working to develop reusable, safe, and low-cost space vehicles and systems within a culture of safety, collaboration, and inclusion. Join our team of problem solvers as we add new chapters to the history of spaceflight! Blue Origin is pioneering the future of space-based communications with TeraWave, a revolutionary satellite communications network designed to deliver symmetrical data speeds of up to 6 Tbps anywhere on Earth. This multi-orbit constellation will consist of optically interconnected satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) and medium Earth orbit (MEO), providing enterprise-grade connectivity for critical operations worldwide. This position is part of Blue Origin's TeraWave business unit, a newly announced satellite communications network designed to deliver symmetrical data speeds of up to 6 Tbps anywhere on Earth. TeraWave consists of 5,408 optically interconnected satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) and medium Earth orbit (MEO), providing enterprise-grade connectivity for critical operations. We are seeking a Principal Satellite Flight Software Engineer to provide technical expertise for TeraWave's Satellite Flight Software Subsystem. This role will be instrumental in developing robust, scalable flight software to support the growth of TeraWave into a 5,408-vehicle constellation. The ideal candidate is a hands-on flight software architect who will shape software architecture, drive cross-functional integration, and establish high standards for software quality, verification, security, and maintainability across the full flight software lifecycle.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related technical field
- 10+ years of experience developing embedded software for spacecraft or other mission-critical real-time systems
- Strong proficiency in C/C++ and Python
- Experience with RTOS-based embedded software development with Embedded Linux, VxWorks, or QNX
- Experience architecting and implementing complex flight software or mission-critical embedded software systems
- Demonstrated technical depth across software design, implementation, and cross-functional integration
- Experience with software lifecycle, configuration management, CI/CD, and verification/validation practices for mission-critical systems
- Familiarity with communication protocols such as TCP/IP, UDP, CAN, I2C, SPI, and RS-422/485
- Experience applying secure software development and cybersecurity best practices in embedded or mission-critical systems
- Experience with embedded software testing methodologies
Nice To Haves
- Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical field
- Experience with flight software frameworks such as core Flight System (cFS), F Prime, or similar
- Experience developing software for satellite constellations, distributed space systems, or networked embedded platforms
- Knowledge of satellite communications systems, spacecraft networking, and high-throughput data handling
- Experience with software-in-the-loop (SIL), hardware-in-the-loop (HIL), and integrated spacecraft test environments
- Experience with fault-tolerant computing, redundancy management, and resilient software architectures
- Knowledge of radiation-hardened computing environments and software considerations for spaceflight
- Experience with communication satellite systems, optical inter-satellite links, or related networking technologies
- Experience designing secure over-the-air (OTA) software update mechanisms for embedded or mission-critical systems
- Experience with software build systems, static analysis, code quality tooling, or automated verification frameworks for embedded systems
Responsibilities
- Architect, design, develop, and integrate core flight software for a next-generation satellite platform
- Define scalable, reusable, and platform-independent flight software frameworks, services, and design patterns to support multiple spacecraft configurations and future growth
- Architect, develop, and evolve key flight software components including core services, command and data handling (C&DH), telemetry, health monitoring, and fault-management infrastructure
- Establish software architecture standards, coding guidelines, design patterns, and review practices to ensure maintainability, reliability, and mission readiness
- Partner closely with systems, avionics, GNC, communications, power, propulsion, thermal, payload, and autonomy teams to translate vehicle and subsystem-level requirements into robust software implementations
- Conduct software design reviews, code reviews, and technical trade studies related to performance, fault tolerance, redundancy, scalability, and portability
- Support software integration, verification, and validation in software-in-the-loop (SIL), hardware-in-the-loop (HIL), and other mission-representative test environments
- Develop and improve software engineering infrastructure including build systems, CI/CD pipelines, automated test frameworks, and debugging/diagnostic tools
- Contribute to technical documentation including software architecture descriptions, interface control documents, verification plans, and test procedures
- Design and implement secure OTA software update capabilities for spacecraft, including validation, authenticated delivery, rollback, version control, and safe deployment in mission-critical on-orbit environments
- Ensure flight software architecture and implementation incorporate cybersecurity principles such as secure communications, access control, interface hardening, and resilient software design
Benefits
- Medical, dental, vision, basic and supplemental life insurance, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability, 401(k) with a company match of up to 5%, and an Education Support Program.
- Stock Options for all regular employees (working at least 20 hours/week)
- Up to four (4) weeks per year based on weekly scheduled hours, and up to 14 company-paid holidays.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Principal
