Spacecraft Flight Computing Engineer

Spacecraft Flight Computing Engineer The Opportunity

We are supporting a well-funded space company developing a human-rated spacecraft with real flight hardware, real missions, and real technical ownership.

This role sits on a small, elite Flight Computing team responsible for the design and implementation of the spacecraft’s computing architecture — from custom flight computers through operating systems, low-level software, and fault-tolerant behavior.

This is not a traditional flight software role layered on top of vendor avionics. The team designs the computers, defines the operating environment, and owns how the system behaves under real-world faults.

You would work directly with the engineer who architected the fault-tolerant computing and networking systems for Falcon 9 and Dragon
, including the hardware that interfaces with the International Space Station.

• Designing and implementing spacecraft flight computing systems with full hardware/software ownership

• Developing and tuning low-level software across bootloaders, operating systems, and device drivers

• Building fault-tolerant behavior that allows systems to continue operating through anomalies

• Working closely with custom flight computer hardware designed in-house

• Defining how compute, timing, and networking behave across spacecraft subsystems

• Participating in system bring-up, integration, debugging, and mission support

• Collaborating with a small group of highly capable engineers who value first-principles design

We are open to exceptional engineers at multiple experience levels
, provided they have strong fundamentals and real technical depth.

Strong indicators include:

• Deep experience with C/C++ in low-level or systems contexts

• Background in embedded systems
  , firmware, kernel-level Linux, or RTOS-based development

• Comfort working close to hardware (bring-up, debugging, timing, fault analysis)

• Experience designing or supporting real-time or safety-critical systems

• Engineers who build things because they’re curious — not just because it’s assigned

Prior spacecraft experience is not required
. Engineers from adjacent domains (embedded systems, automotive safety, robotics, compute infrastructure, etc.) are welcome if they bring the right depth and mindset.

• Small, senior technical team — no large hierarchies, no busywork

• Minimal legacy code — engineers are empowered to fix or redesign what doesn’t make sense

• Modern, high-performance compute platforms
  , not legacy aerospace hardware

• Real authority over architecture and implementation decisions

• Direct mentorship and collaboration with one of the most experienced flight computing architects in the industry

• A rare blend of startup-level autonomy with the resources of a major space program

• Based in the South Bay / Greater Los Angeles area

• Candidates must be U.S. persons due to regulatory requirements

• Relocation support may be available

If you’re excited by the idea of building spacecraft computers the right way — with real ownership, real impact, and real technical peers — we’d welcome a conversation.