Flight Software Engineer Job at NewOrbit Space (Reading)

Job Description

At NewOrbit Space, our mission is to engineer the lowest orbiting satellites on Earth to rapidly advance global connectivity and insight. We are currently building satellites that can operate at an altitude of just 200 km - one-third that of conventional satellites. Thanks to our propulsion system AURA, we can compensate for the atmospheric drag at ultra-low altitudes. You’ll own the software that makes the spacecraft behave: real-time control flows, autonomy, mode management, and the core flight applications that coordinate every subsystem. You’ll design and implement robust flight-software services on RTOS or Embedded Linux—turning mission requirements into deterministic, testable software—then take it from simulation all the way to launch and on-orbit operations. You’ll ensure our VLEO satellites stay safe and productive with strong fault tolerance, clean observability, and rapid iteration through over-the-air updates.

Job Responsibility

Own the on-board flight-software stack – design, implement and test real-time Rust/C/C++ on RTOS or Embedded Linux
Integrate subsystems end-to-end – define ICDs and build drivers/middleware over I2C/SPI/UART/CAN(-FD)/SpaceWire (as applicable)
Build spacecraft behaviors & autonomy – implement mode management, sequencing, and autonomous FDIR for safe and productive operations
Deliver reliable real-time performance – manage concurrency, timing, CPU/memory budgets, and observability under tight constraints
Build verification infrastructure – prototypes, SIL/HIL test harnesses, simulations, and telemetry analysis tooling to validate designs early
Ship code from review to orbit – push through CI/CD, support integration and launch ops, and deliver secure over-the-air updates
Work across disciplines – collaborate with avionics, AOCS, comms and mission teams to trade compute, power, thermal, storage and link budgets

Requirements

Proven experience in building production embedded or real-time systems in C/C++ and/or Rust on RTOS or Embedded Linux for space systems
Strong grasp of real-time software: scheduling, interrupts, concurrency primitives, determinism, and designing for constrained CPU/memory
Proven ability to build reliable, testable systems: unit/integration testing, simulation-first development, HIL validation, and disciplined debugging
Hands-on experience integrating with hardware via common interfaces (I2C, SPI, UART, CAN(-FD), GPIO, etc.) and practical lab debugging
Solid software engineering fundamentals: architecture, code review, static analysis, CI/CD, configuration management, and observability/logging
Ability to own systems end-to-end: from requirements and design through implementation, verification, operations support, and iterative improvement

Nice to have

Experience with spacecraft flight software frameworks (e.g., cFS, F´, or building lightweight component-based equivalents)
Familiarity with autonomy and fault management patterns for radiation/SEUs, watchdog strategies, redundancy, and safe-mode design
GNC/AOCS-adjacent experience: sensor/actuator pipelines, control-loop integration, estimation/filters, timing analysis
Digital-twin / simulator / SIL-HIL experience for end-to-end behavior validation and regression testing
On-orbit operations know-how: commissioning flows, anomaly response, telemetry triage, and OTA update strategies

What we offer

Equity and Competitive Salary
Comprehensive Benefits Package – Including private health insurance with dental and optical coverage, annual healthcare check-ups etc
Hybrid Work - A hybrid setup with one dedicated remote day per week
Relocation package and visa sponsorship if joining from abroad

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Flight Software Engineer

Job Description

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Requirements

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