SlipstreamJobs tracks this role from the company's public career site. Apply directly on the employer's site.
Salary: USD 85,000 - 100,000 / annual
Rocket Lab is seeking a Flight Software Engineer I to join its Space Systems team in Littleton, CO. You will develop flight software for spacecraft, payloads, and satellite systems that operate in orbit. The role spans the full software development lifecycle: requirements definition, design, coding, testing, and on-orbit operations.
Key responsibilities include:
- Develop application software for Real Time Operating Systems (RTOS) and embedded Linux environments
- Create hardware drivers for spacecraft sensors and actuators (IMUs, star trackers, reaction wheels)
- Write and maintain comprehensive unit tests within continuous integration frameworks
- Collaborate with hardware-in-the-loop test engineers to verify integrated software and hardware functionality
- Work with systems and embedded systems engineers on requirements development, documentation, and validation
- Participate in code reviews and design reviews (PDR, CDR)
- Support on-orbit and interplanetary flight operations
Required qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, or equivalent technical field
- Experience in embedded software development
- Proficiency in C and C++
- Experience with RTOS or embedded Linux
- U.S. citizenship (program requirement)
Desirable qualifications include active Secret or TS/SCI security clearance, advanced degree, experience with CAN/CAN-FD and UDP/TCP in embedded systems, and experience developing software for autonomous systems in harsh environments.
Rocket Lab operates the Electron rocket (second most frequently launched U.S. rocket) and is developing Neutron, a medium-lift reusable launch vehicle. The Space Systems division has enabled over 1,700 missions and built spacecraft and components for NASA lunar and Mars missions, the James Webb Space Telescope, and national security initiatives. You will see your software deployed to orbit within weeks to months, not years.
