Spacecraft Flight Computing Senior Engineer

Here at The Exploration Company, we are building spacecrafts for humanity.

The Exploration Company is seeking a highly skilled Spacecraft Flight Computing Engineer with expertise in real-time, fault-tolerant computer systems running a RTOS and/or Linux. This role is focused on hands‑on hardware and software development, with an emphasis on building systems resilient to radiation effects in space environments. The engineer will also apply knowledge of IP networking, including Time‑Sensitive Networking (TSN) and Precision Time Protocol (PTP), to enable deterministic, synchronized communication across spacecraft subsystems.

• Design, implement, and maintain real-time embedded computing systems for spacecraft avionics.
• Apply fault‑tolerant computing techniques to ensure reliable operation in the presence of radiation‑induced upsets and anomalies.
• Develop and optimize our RTOS and Linux‑based real‑time operating environments, including kernel configuration, boot loader, device drivers, and system‑level performance tuning.
• Perform hardware design tasks, including schematic capture, PCB layout, and component selection using Altium Designer, with emphasis on radiation‑tolerant design practices.
• Develop, synthesize, and validate FPGA designs (VHDL/Verilog), incorporating mitigation strategies such as TMR, ECC, and scrubbing.
• Design, configure, and troubleshoot IP networking protocols, with focus on TSN for deterministic networking and PTP for precise time synchronization across spacecraft systems.
• Conduct system integration, hardware/software debugging, and fault injection testing to verify robustness under radiation and fault conditions.
• Collaborate closely with flight software, avionics, and systems engineering teams to define computing, networking, and interface requirements.
• Support mission operations through anomaly resolution and post‑flight analysis of radiation‑induced effects such as SEUs and TID.

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.
• Strong proficiency in C/C++ and Python for embedded software development and automation.
• Hands‑on experience with real‑time systems and Linux‑based embedded computing.
• Practical expertise in fault‑tolerant computing methods (redundancy, checkpoint/restart, graceful degradation).
• Knowledge of IP networking protocols (TCP/IP, UDP, routing, switching) with direct experience implementing TSN and PTP in real‑time or mission‑critical environments.
• Understanding of radiation effects on electronics and software, with experience implementing mitigation strategies at multiple system levels.
• Experience with system‑level debugging tools and hardware/software integration.

• Strong skills in writing, debugging and performance tuning low‑level software for Linux and/or a RTOS, including the boot loader and device drivers.
• Strong skills in hardware design using Altium Designer and/or Cadence Allegro for schematics and PCB layout. Bonus points if you have experience with multi‑gigabit SERDES interfaces like SGMII, PCI Express and Serial RapidIO.
• Solid background in FPGA development (VHDL/Verilog, synthesis, simulation, timing closure, hardware validation).
• Familiarity with modern multi‑core ARM‑based System‑on‑Chip hardware, including the internal architecture.
• Experience writing bare‑metal code.
• Strong skills in writing low‑level software for Linux and/or a RTOS, including the boot loader and device drivers.
• Exposure to radiation testing (heavy‑ion, proton, or TID) and analysis.
• Background in hardware‑software co‑design for reliability and fault‑tolerance.
• Prior hands‑on experience supporting space missions.