SpaceOps Associate, SuperDove Mission

Planet•San Francisco, CA

8h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Space Ops team is in charge of maintaining the largest constellation of Earth observation satellites made up of SuperDoves, SkySats, Pelicans, and Tanagers; we ensure they are safe, healthy, and productive. We are a small team of highly-skilled engineers from offices in SF and Berlin and we are looking for a highly motivated and driven working student to join our team. As part of the Space Operations team, you will support day-to-day operations, which includes, making assessments based on data analysis, triaging and resolving anomalies, run on-orbit experiments, and testing and assisting in the rollout of software on the ground and in space. The work of the Space Operations team is essential to Planet’s success. This role is specifically for supporting Planet’s medium-resolution Superdove mission. With ~100 satellites in orbit, the core of our operations is automation and monitoring; you will be writing code to automate mission operations and aggregate data into metrics. The ideal candidate is eager to learn and collaborate, is results driven and is able to work in a fast-paced environment, while working independently and as part of a team. You will be working in a collaborative environment, frequently communicating with hardware and software experts to understand anomalies, develop procedures and further develop operations processes. This is a part-time, hybrid role which will require you to work from our San Francisco office 3 days per week.

Requirements

Pursuing a B.S or Graduate Degree in an Engineering, Software, or Science related field from an accredited college or technical school
Software development experience in Python or equivalent
Familiarity with statistical analysis and data-driven development
Experience with data visualization
Excellent communication skills and a willingness to collaborate across teams
Understanding of DevOps and CI/CD concepts

Nice To Haves

Understanding of space environment and space operations
Comfort working in a dynamic and fast-paced environment, and collaborating with remote team members
Previous experience working on mission design or mission operations
Self-starter attitude and willingness to learn

Responsibilities

Develop and enhance existing tools to further automate satellite operations
Identify, triage, root cause and resolve satellite anomalies in space
Support daily check-ins on the Superdove fleet to maintain nominal operations
Improve existing processes and procedures for satellite operations
Develop and maintain scripts to aggregate satellite data and generate metrics
Use existing and new metrics for data analysis to make assessments about the performance and health of the satellites
Lead standalone projects to evolve the way we operate our satellites