Principal Satellite Flight Software Engineer - TeraWave

Application close date:

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

We are seeking a Principal Satellite Flight Software Engineer to provide technical expertise for TeraWave's Satellite Flight Software Subsystem. This role will be instrumental in developing robust, scalable flight software to support the growth of TeraWave into a 5,408-vehicle constellation. The ideal candidate is a hands-on flight software architect who will shape software architecture, drive cross-functional integration, and establish high standards for software quality, verification, security, and maintainability across the full flight software lifecycle.

• Architect, design, develop, and integrate core flight software for a next-generation satellite platform
• Define scalable, reusable, and platform-independent flight software frameworks, services, and design patterns to support multiple spacecraft configurations and future growth
• Architect, develop, and evolve key flight software components including core services, command and data handling (C&DH), telemetry, health monitoring, and fault-management infrastructure
• Establish software architecture standards, coding guidelines, design patterns, and review practices to ensure maintainability, reliability, and mission readiness
• Partner closely with systems, avionics, GNC, communications, power, propulsion, thermal, payload, and autonomy teams to translate vehicle and subsystem-level requirements into robust software implementations
• Conduct software design reviews, code reviews, and technical trade studies related to performance, fault tolerance, redundancy, scalability, and portability
• Support software integration, verification, and validation in software-in-the-loop (SIL), hardware-in-the-loop (HIL), and other mission-representative test environments
• Develop and improve software engineering infrastructure including build systems, CI/CD pipelines, automated test frameworks, and debugging/diagnostic tools
• Contribute to technical documentation including software architecture descriptions, interface control documents, verification plans, and test procedures
• Design and implement secure OTA software update capabilities for spacecraft, including validation, authenticated delivery, rollback, version control, and safe deployment in mission-critical on-orbit environments
• Ensure flight software architecture and implementation incorporate cybersecurity principles such as secure communications, access control, interface hardening, and resilient software design

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related technical field
• 10+ years of experience developing embedded software for spacecraft or other mission-critical real-time systems
• Strong proficiency in C/C++ and Python
• Experience with RTOS-based embedded software development with Embedded Linux, VxWorks, or QNX
• Experience architecting and implementing complex flight software or mission-critical embedded software systems
• Demonstrated technical depth across software design, implementation, and cross-functional integration
• Experience with software lifecycle, configuration management, CI/CD, and verification/validation practices for mission-critical systems
• Familiarity with communication protocols such as TCP/IP, UDP, CAN, I2C, SPI, and RS-422/485
• Experience applying secure software development and cybersecurity best practices in embedded or mission-critical systems
• Experience with embedded software testing methodologies

• Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical field
• Experience with flight software frameworks such as core Flight System (cFS), F Prime, or similar
• Experience developing software for satellite constellations, distributed space systems, or networked embedded platforms
• Knowledge of satellite communications systems, spacecraft networking, and high-throughput data handling
• Experience with software-in-the-loop (SIL), hardware-in-the-loop (HIL), and integrated spacecraft test environments
• Experience with fault-tolerant computing, redundancy management, and resilient software architectures
• Knowledge of radiation-hardened computing environments and software considerations for spaceflight
• Experience with communication satellite systems, optical inter-satellite links, or related networking technologies
• Experience designing secure over-the-air (OTA) software update mechanisms for embedded or mission-critical systems
• Experience with software build systems, static analysis, code quality tooling, or automated verification frameworks for embedded systems

At Blue Origin, we’re building the future of space-based connectivity through the TeraWave satellite communications network. As a Principal Satellite Flight Software Developer, you will help define the software architecture, engineering rigor, and technical foundation for a large-scale satellite constellation delivering high-performance, resilient global communications. Join a team solving complex, mission-critical problems at the intersection of spacecraft, software, networking, and system integration.

Join our team and be part of building a space-based network designed for tomorrow, where your expertise will directly contribute to creating a system that provides connectivity anywhere on Earth.

Base Pay Range for:

Don’t meet all desired requirements? Studies have shown that some people are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single desired qualification. At Blue Origin, we are dedicated to building an authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every desired qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.