Senior RF Engineer

Fortastra designs and delivers resilient, high-performance spacecraft that safeguard critical orbital assets and ensure freedom of action in space. We integrate advanced autonomy, sensing, and control into systems engineered for reliability, speed, and scale.
Our culture values simplicity, accountability, and disciplined execution. We expect leaders to think systemically, act decisively, and take ownership of mission outcomes. Aggressive innovation. Disciplined execution. Strength among the stars.

You’ll join Fortastra’s Engineering Division. The RF and communications function is responsible for getting data to and from our vehicles and between them in orbit. This includes spacecraft TT&C links to the ground, cross links between vehicles, and RF payloads that enable resilient operations in contested environments.

Fortastra is seeking a Senior RF Engineer to own the end to end design and implementation of RF communications systems for our spacecraft. You will be responsible for TT&C links to the ground as well as RF cross links between vehicles, including architecture, link budgets, radio selection or design, and antenna integration.

This is a hands-on, system-level role that spans analysis, hardware selection, and integration. You will define RF architectures, perform detailed link analyses, select and integrate COTS radios or design custom solutions where needed, and ensure that our communications systems perform reliably in orbit. Experience with electronic warfare payloads, FPGA-based signal processing, or antenna design is highly desirable.

• Own the RF architecture for spacecraft TT&C and crosslink communications, from concept through flight.
• Perform detailed link budget analysis for space to ground links and inter-satellite links, including margin assessments and sensitivity to environment and geometry.
• Select, architect, and integrate radios for TT&C and cross links, combining COTS hardware with custom designs where required.
• Define and implement communications schemes using common space protocols such as CCSDS and DVB-S2.
• Develop system level RF requirements, interface definitions, and performance budgets for radios, antennas, and front-end hardware.
• Work with mechanical and systems engineers to design antenna placements, mounting, and panel integration, and to account for pointing, blockage, and thermal constraints.
• Support antenna selection or design, including trades on patterns, gain, polarization, and frequency bands.
• Collaborate with digital, FPGA, and software teams to implement waveforms, modulation, coding, and EW related algorithms in firmware and software.
• Support or lead RF test activities including bench characterization, over-the-air tests, and system level validation of links in relevant environments.
• Contribute to resilience in contested environments by informing or developing EW related capabilities where appropriate.

• B.S. or M.S. in Electrical Engineering, RF Engineering, or a closely related field.
• 5+ years of experience in RF system design for spacecraft, satellite communications, defense communications, or similar high-reliability RF systems.
• Strong experience performing link budget analysis for RF communication systems, including space to ground and preferably cross links.
• Familiarity with common space communications protocols and standards such as CCSDS and DVB-S2.
• Experience with RF hardware selection and system integration, including radios, LNAs, PAs, filters, and related front-end components.
• Experience with one or more RF design and analysis tools (for example STK, System Vue, MATLAB, or similar) for link analysis and system trades.
Experience with antenna design or integration is a strong plus, including understanding…