Principal Satellite Flight Software Developer - TeraWave

Overview

At Blue Origin, we envision millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth. We’re working to develop reusable, safe, and low-cost space vehicles and systems within a culture of safety, collaboration, and inclusion. Join our team of problem solvers as we add new chapters to the history of spaceflight!

This role is part of Tera Wave, a satellite communications network designed to deliver symmetrical data speeds of up to 6 Tbps anywhere on Earth. This network will service tens of thousands of enterprise, data center, and government users who require reliable connectivity for critical operations.

Special Mentions This position is part of Blue Origin's Tera Wave business unit, a newly announced satellite communications network designed to deliver symmetrical data speeds of up to 6 Tbps anywhere on Earth. Tera Wave consists of 5,408 optically interconnected satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) and medium Earth orbit (MEO), providing enterprise-grade connectivity for critical operations.

• Lead the design, development, and implementation of the core flight software architecture for the Tera Wave satellite constellation
• Architect and develop robust, scalable software solutions for the 5,408 optically interconnected satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) and medium Earth orbit (MEO)
• Architect and develop platform-independent, reusable software frameworks to expedite flight software development across the Tera Wave constellation
• Design and implement command and data handling systems that enable the high-throughput capabilities of the Tera Wave network (up to 6 Tbps)
• Develop and maintain critical flight software components for satellite operations, including command processing, telemetry, fault detection, isolation, and recovery
• Create and implement software interfaces between various satellite subsystems (power, communications, attitude control, thermal management)
• Establish software development standards, best practices, and architectural patterns for the Tera Wave flight software team
• Collaborate with systems engineers to define software requirements and system interfaces
• Perform code reviews on flight software best practices
• Design and implement real-time embedded software solutions for satellite operations
• Develop and execute comprehensive test plans to validate flight software functionality
• Troubleshoot complex software issues in simulated and operational environments
• Support integration and testing activities to verify software functionality in simulated and hardware-in-the-loop environments
• Contribute to technical documentation including software design documents, interface control documents, and test procedures

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related technical field
• 8+ years of experience in developing embedded software for space systems or similar mission-critical applications
• Demonstrated experience with real-time operating systems (RTOS) and embedded programming
• Proficiency in C/C++ programming languages
• Experience with flight software architecture design and implementation
• Knowledge of software development lifecycle processes for mission-critical systems
• Experience with version control systems (Git) and CI/CD pipelines
• Familiarity with communication protocols used in spacecraft (CAN, I2C, SPI, RS-422/485)
• Experience with software testing methodologies for embedded systems

• Master's degree or PhD in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or Aerospace Engineering
• Experience with NASA's Core Flight System (cFS) or similar flight software frameworks
• Knowledge of satellite communications systems and protocols
• Experience with high-throughput data processing systems
• Familiarity with optical inter-satellite link technologies
• Experience with Rust programming language for embedded systems
• Background in developing software for satellite constellations or distributed space systems
• Experience with hardware-in-the-loop (HITL) testing for spacecraft systems
• Knowledge of radiation-hardened computing environments and associated software considerations
• Experience with fault-tolerant computing…