SlipstreamJobs tracks this role from the company's public career site. Apply directly on the employer's site.
Salary: USD 130,000 - 196,000 / annual
Relativity Space is building the Terran R rocket and the Interplanetary Sciences Program, which includes a Mars 2028 mission designed to transform how interplanetary science missions are conducted. The mission will feature AI models running on spacecraft in Mars orbit, with instruments to sense atmospheric conditions and probe the surface with radar to locate ice.
As a Software Engineer – Operations, you will design and build the operations software that commands, monitors, and coordinates the spacecraft, its science instruments, and communications systems. This is a high-ownership, hands-on engineering role at the intersection of software, spacecraft operations, and cross-team collaboration.
Key responsibilities include:
- Design and implement operations software: Build, test, and operate spacecraft commanding tools including command generation, validation, sequencing, and constraint-checking software using modern engineering practices and AI-assisted development tools.
- Work cross-functionally: Partner with mission operations, guidance/navigation/control (GN&C), flight software, instrument, and ground systems teams within Relativity Space, as well as external partners and instrument providers, to translate operational needs into working software.
- Build test suites: Create automated test suites and validation frameworks covering spacecraft commanding, telemetry processing, and data dissemination, including regression tests, simulation/flatsat-based validation, and hardware-in-the-loop test support.
- Define external interfaces: Define and document interfaces (ICDs, APIs, data formats) that instrument teams and external stakeholders use to interact with operations tools, ensuring clarity, stability, and support across the mission lifecycle.
- Automate tooling: Develop automation for commanding, telemetry visualization, anomaly investigation, and data pipelines as mission needs evolve.
Operations software is the critical layer between a spacecraft hundreds of millions of kilometers away and the humans, instruments, and partner organizations that depend on it. The tools you build will directly shape how safely and efficiently the mission commands its spacecraft, ingests science data, and supports instrument teams.
During critical mission phases including launch, commissioning, cruise maneuvers, and early operations, this position will require shift work and on-call availability. Schedule flexibility will be needed as operational needs evolve. Occasional travel (less than 10%) to partner institutions and mission integration sites may be required.
**Requirements:**
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related field, or equivalent practical experience
- 3+ years of software engineering experience, ideally including exposure to mission operations, ground systems, command and control, or other safety- or mission-critical software
- Strong software fundamentals and hands-on proficiency with Python or comparable language
- Experience designing and writing automated test suites (unit, integration, and/or regression tests) for complex or safety-critical systems
- Experience defining or working against external-facing interfaces or APIs (ICDs, schemas, protocol definitions) shared with other teams or organizations
- Comfort working cross-functionally with engineers, operators, and external partners who may have different technical backgrounds and priorities
- Experience with agentic development tools (e.g., AI coding agents/assistants) as part of a professional software engineering workflow, including knowing when and how to verify their output in a mission-critical context
