Senior Flight Software Engineer; Clearance

Capella Space Overview

Capella Space stands at the forefront of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite technology and signal intelligence. We provide customers in governments, academia, and commercial sectors with reliable information that enables unparalleled understanding of the world. Our mission is centered on delivering timely and reliable Earth imagery, supporting diverse applications in defense & intelligence, disaster response, energy, environmental monitoring and more. Utilizing cutting‑edge technology, Capella Space designs, manufactures and operates an advanced constellation of SAR imaging satellites.

Our market‑leading SAR satellites are complemented by an unmatched data infrastructure and automated ordering and delivery platform for fast, reliable insights where and when customers need it most.

Recognized for our technological prowess, Capella Space was honored as one of the 10 most innovative companies in Space in 2023 by FAST COMPANY. Capella Space is an internationally trusted Earth Observation data provider, working closely with the U.S. Space Systems Command, U.S. Space Force, NASA, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, U.S. National Reconnaissance Office, the Canadian Government and more to make unclassified, high‑resolution SAR data more accessible.

Capella Space is a highly collaborative team environment, providing an opportunity to work with some of the brightest minds in the space industry, though no prior space experience is needed. We’re looking for people excited about tackling seemingly impossible challenges, learning new skills and concepts, and helping each other achieve success. Our mission and our products are meant to understand the whole world and help everyone in it – regardless of race, creed, or any other distinction.

We encourage you to bring your unique perspective to help make us stronger, including applications from those who are traditionally underrepresented in tech.

As a software engineer on the Flight Software team, you will be writing the software that runs our satellite fleet in space! You will interact daily with other software engineers, FPGA developers, electrical engineers, and various other subsystem owners to develop, maintain, and implement new features for the spacecraft software. You will have a demonstrable track record of working with complex systems, understanding systems architecture, and setting the engineering development plan making complex radar technologies easy to use.

• Design, develop, and maintain flight software for satellite systems.
• Collaborate with EE, FPGA, and ground software engineers to ensure seamless integration between hardware and software.
• Conduct code reviews and provide constructive feedback to team members.
• Write and maintain unit and integration tests to ensure robustness and reliability of the software.
• Develop software documentation and provide cross‑training to other team members.
• Troubleshoot and resolve software issues in a timely manner.
• Participate in the software development life cycle, from requirement analysis to deployment.
• Support integration and operations teams with software‑related queries.

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, computer engineering, electrical engineering, or related field of study.
• At least 6 years relevant work experience.
• Ability to support a design through all software life cycles including initial schematic review and architectural tradeoffs, preliminary and detailed design, implementation, integration, and test.
• Experience working with real‑time embedded systems – both hardware and software, including low‑level drivers.
• Hands‑on experience developing, testing, and debugging hard real‑time software (bare‑metal or RTOS).
• Familiarity with embedded Linux, Linux kernel modules, and standard Linux tools.
• Strong knowledge of programming compiled (C, C++) and scripted (Python, shell script, etc.) languages.
• Experience writing software for microcontrollers and other embedded systems, e.g., Xilinx Zynq SoCs.
• Familiarity with software configuration management.
• Hand‑on experience with lab equipment and electronics hardware, e.g.,…