Avionics Engineer, Flight Computer

About Cowboy Space Corp.

Mission

Cowboy Space Corporation is solving the global energy crisis by building the infrastructure for abundant, resilient space-based solar energy. We are tackling one of humanity’s most complex engineering challenges with a world-class team dedicated to delivering a revolutionary power platform. Cowboy Space Corporation is transforming how civilization powers, computes and connects - from orbit to Earth.

Cowboy Space Corporation is building the infrastructure to power and connect the orbital economy. Our modular, scalable satellites collect sunlight in Low Earth Orbit to enable multiple integrated applications: transmitting energy via infrared lasers (space-to-earth and space-to-space), powering on-orbit high-performance computing clusters (GPU/TPU), and providing secure, high bandwidth optical data transport.

Current energy and data systems rely on complex logistics and outdated infrastructure. Cowboy Space Corporation overcomes these challenges by enabling direct, on-demand, secure, and scalable energy distribution and data processing from space. This will revolutionize how we operate in orbit and on Earth, supporting the rapidly expanding space industrial base, ISAM (In-Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing) operations, remote regions, and military bases.

Baiju Bhatt founded Cowboy Space Corporation in 2024. Inspired by his father’s work with NASA Langley Research Center, Baiju earned his B.S. in Physics and M.S. in Mathematics at Stanford before co-founding Robinhood, now a public company that has helped over 20 million Americans access the financial system. Cowboy Space Corporation has raised ~$365 million from Index Ventures, Interlagos, Construct Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, NEA, and others.

This is an ambitious mission that demands extraordinary talent. Cowboy Space Corporation ’s team has worked at places like SpaceX, Blue Origin, Stoke Space, Astranis and NASA, and is based in San Carlos, CA. If you're ready to solve complex technical challenges and help build the most important energy company in the world, we want to hear from you.

We're looking for a Flight Computer Avionics Engineer to own the design, development, integration, and qualification of our spacecraft flight computer. You'll be responsible for delivering reliable, radiation-tolerant avionics hardware that serves as the central computing platform for our spacecraft.

This is a hands-on individual contributor role for someone who enjoys taking complex hardware from architecture through production and flight. You'll work closely with software, GNC, power, RF, thermal, and mechanical engineers to develop avionics capable of operating in the harsh environment of space.

• Architect and design spacecraft flight computer hardware from concept through flight qualification.

• Own schematic capture, component selection, board bring-up, debugging, and verification.

• Design high-reliability digital electronics using modern processors, SoCs, FPGAs, memory, and high-speed interfaces.

• Develop fault-tolerant architectures including redundancy, watchdogs, fault detection, isolation, and recovery (FDIR).

• Define interfaces between the flight computer and all spacecraft subsystems, including power, propulsion, GNC, payloads, communications, and telemetry.

• Lead board-level validation, hardware characterization, environmental testing, and design verification.

• Partner closely with embedded software and FPGA engineers to enable hardware/software integration.

• Support manufacturing, DFM/DFT reviews, supplier engagement, and production test development.

• Drive EMC/EMI compliance, signal integrity, power integrity, and reliability analysis.

• Support spacecraft integration, environmental qualification, launch campaigns, and on-orbit anomaly resolution.

• Contribute to system architecture and technical decision making across the avionics organization.

• BS, MS, or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related discipline.

• 5+ years developing complex digital hardware.

• Experience designing processor-based embedded systems.

• Strong schematic capture and board‑level debugging experience.

• Experience with DDR memory, Ethernet, SPI, I2C, UART, CAN, PCIe, Space Wire, or similar interfaces.

• Familiarity with FPGA‑based systems and embedded processors.

• Experience bringing hardware from prototype through production.

• Proficiency using tools such as Altium Designer, Cadence…