Software Engineer, AI Satellites (Starmind)

About the role

SpaceX is leveraging its experience deploying and operating the world's largest satellite constellation to develop Starmind, a new constellation of satellites capturing solar energy in space to power low-cost, high-performance AI compute for Earth.

The Starmind team is developing key technologies to power this satellite - massive solar power generation systems, active cooling, propulsion, and the highly reliable software stack that enables our vehicles to accomplish their mission safely and autonomously.

As a Software Engineer on the Starmind team, you'll have ownership of the stack that will allow us to push our vehicle hardware to the limit of physics. Our software engineers are responsible for the complete lifecycle of the software they create, including development, testing, and support. We expect our engineers to close the feedback loop between software design and real-world performance. In this role, your software will have a meaningful and measurable impact on the world.

Responsibilities

• Develop highly reliable, real-time software designed to run on the gateways, satellites, user terminals, and switches that make up our low latency, high capacity satellite-based global network.
• Participate in and lead architecture, design, and code reviews.
• Develop prototypes and manage experiments to prove out key design concepts.
• Develop tools for software development and deployment, data analysis and visualization, and test execution across multiple environments, including virtualized hardware environments, real hardware-in-the-loop simulations, and on-orbit testing.
• Deploy reliable software, test execution, and data analysis as part of a continuous integration and release system.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, math, or science discipline; OR 2+ years of professional experience in software development in lieu of a degree (internship experience is applicable).
• Development experience in C, C++, or assembly.
• Experience with application development and distributed systems architecture in a Linux environment.

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Strong first-principles problem-solving skills and a focus on designing bug-free, maintainable software
• Strong professional experience writing C, C++ or assembly in a production environment.
• Developed, debugged and deployed software that has been used in real world applications/projects.
• Knowledgeable in real-time rendering, game engine development, physics simulation, or other real-time, resource-constrained, high-performance computing.
• Creative approach to problem solving, exceptional analytical skills and engineering fundamentals.
• Excellent communication skills both written and verbal.
• Ability to work effectively in a dynamic environment with changing needs and requirements.
• Experience with networking protocols (UDP, TCP/IP, etc) and distributed systems.
• Experience in security issues associated with distributed systems and internet services.

Additional Requirements

• Ability to work extended hours or weekends as needed for mission critical deadlines
• Ability to travel occasionally to support on-site testing

Itar Requirements

• To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.