Software Engineering Intern – Summer 2027

K2 Space•Los Angeles, CA

2h•$30 - $40•Onsite

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 over $1 billion in total funding from leading investors including Altimeter Capital, ICONIQ, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Redpoint Ventures, and T. Rowe Price — and with over $1 billion 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 in 2027 and plans to scale to 100 satellites a year, we're Building Bigger — helping develop the solar system and build toward 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 high-growth Series D-funded company, we'd love for you to apply. We’re looking for a stellar intern to join our team for a 3 month internship. Working closely with K2 engineers in a highly collaborative environment, you will be responsible for owning a software engineering project end-to-end and supporting actual on-orbit operations of our spacecraft. You will interact with advanced technologies like cyber-physical system simulators, satellite sensors and actuators, build systems, GNC algorithms, and more.

Requirements

Must be currently enrolled in a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in computer science, computer engineering, electrical engineering, or other relevant engineering discipline
6+ months of experience using technical engineering skills outside of the university classroom setting (eg: laboratory, research, extracurricular project teams, volunteering, personal projects or prior internship/work experience)
Development experience in Rust, C/C++, or Go
Available for a minimum 12 week internship in person at our HQ in Torrance

Nice To Haves

Ability to work well in an integrated collaborative team environment, including frequent interactions with technicians, engineers, and managers
Experience with spacecraft flight software development
Experience with Linux systems programming and driver development
Experience with continuous integration and continuous delivery systems
Experience building or working with hard real-time embedded systems (bare-metal or RTOS)
Basic knowledge of electronics, computer architecture, and control systems
Experience defining and creating test systems for both hardware-in-the-loop and hardware-out-of-the-loop

Responsibilities

Create software architecture for real-time, fault-tolerant control of a 20kW+ spacecraft
Develop software applications for control of spacecraft subsystems, including propulsion, guidance/attitude control, thermal, power, and communications systems
Design and implement state machines for robust operation of the spacecraft
Create and utilize robust tools to allow for rapid deployment of quality code
Perform data analysis and anomaly investigation to identify and resolve software bugs
Support integration and testing of the spacecraft subsystems
Build and maintain infrastructure to increase reliability when developing and testing software