Software Engineer (Mission Applications)

Description

Astranis builds advanced satellites for high orbits, expanding humanity’s reach into the solar system. Today Astranis satellites provide dedicated, secure networks to highly-sophisticated customers across the globe – large enterprises, sovereign governments, and the US military.

With five satellites on orbit and many more set to launch soon, the company is servicing a backlog of more than $1 billion of commercial contracts. Astranis is the preferred satellite communications partner for buyers with stringent requirements for uptime, data security, network visibility, and customization.

Astranis has raised over $1.2 billion from some of the world’s best investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Baillie Gifford, Blackrock, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, and Snowpoint, and employs a team of 500 engineers and entrepreneurs. Astranis designs, builds, and operates its satellites out of its 153,000 sq. ft. headquarters in Northern California, USA.

Software Engineer - Mission Applications

As a Software Engineer on the Mission Applications team, you will design, build, and administrate the mission-critical software used to command, monitor, and coordinate our satellites and ground networks. Your work spans the entire lifecycle, including pre-sales tools to forecast satellite and network performance, satellite commanding, telemetry monitoring, payload operations, payload testing, and network service coordination. You will tackle soup to nuts engineering problems, taking features from operational concepts through backend services and out to operators in mission control.

This role contributes to both commercial and US Government programs.

Role

Lead the design, implementation, and lifecycle of software used for satellite commanding, health monitoring, and fleet management.

Build services and tools that coordinate network operations, payload operations, and automated payload testing.

Develop analytical and forecasting tools to evaluate satellite and network performance in support of pre-sales and capacity planning.

Own features end to end, from backend architecture and database modeling to operator-facing interfaces and automation scripts.

Deliver resilient, high-consequence software workflows that send commands directly to space vehicles and ground stations.

Build and maintain web-based operator tools for commanding consoles, telemetry visualization, execution tracking, and procedure orchestration.

Automate operational workflows across spacecraft testing, mission rehearsals, on-orbit operations, and anomaly investigation.

Partner directly with payload engineers, network engineers, system architects, and flight operators to define operational requirements and software architecture.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 4+ years of professional software engineering experience.
• Demonstrated track record of end to end ownership, taking complex technical problems from initial conception to production operations.
• Strong proficiency in Python or similar backend languages.
• Experience building and maintaining backend services using frameworks such as FastAPI, Flask, or gRPC.
• Experience working with relational databases such as PostgreSQL, including schema design, query optimization, and data modeling.
• Working familiarity with modern web technologies (TypeScript, JavaScript, React) to build functional, dependable internal tools and operator dashboards.
• Experience designing reliable APIs and event-driven architectures.
• Experience deploying and operating services in production environments using Linux and Docker.
• Comfort reasoning about complex distributed state and operational workflows.
• Strong initiative and autonomy in navigating ambiguous operational problems.
• Bonus
• Experience designing and operating distributed systems.
• Experience using and developing observability tools across the full stack.
• Experience deploying and managing workloads across Kubernetes, multi-cloud environments, and on-prem infrastructure.
• Experience in aerospace, satellite operations, or industrial automation.
• Experience with real-time telemetry processing, time-series data, or distributed pub/sub systems.
• Familiarity with mission operations or automated testing frameworks.
• Experience building software under strict reliability or high-consequence execution constraints.

Benefits

• All our positions offer a compensation package that includes equity and robust benefits.
• Base pay is just one component of Astranis’s total rewards package. Your compensation also includes a significant equity package via incentive stock options, high-quality company-subsidized healthcare, disability and life insurance, 401(k) retirement planning, flexible PTO, and free on-site catered meals.
• Astranis pay ranges are informed and defined through professional-grade salary surveys and compensation data sources. The actual base salary offered to a successful candidate will additionally be influenced by a variety of factors including experience, credentials & certifications, educational attainment, skill level requirements, and the level and scope of the position.
• Base Salary
• $130,000 - $175,000 USD
• U.S. Citizenship, Lawful Permanent Residency, or Refugee/Asylee Status Required
• (To comply with U.S. Government space technology export regulations, applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the United States, or other protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3))
• Our mission and products are built for everyone, regardless of gender, race, creed, or background. We believe in a diverse and inclusive workplace, and we invite all people to join our team and bring their unique perspectives to make us stronger.
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