Embedded Software Engineer, Impulse Space
Image Processing Algorithms
$120-155k
Office located in Redondo Beach, CA
In-space mobility company
Be an early applicant
In-space mobility company
201-500 employees
Be an early applicant
$120-155k
Office located in Redondo Beach, CA
201-500 employees
Company mission
To accelerate humanity's future in space through efficient transportation anywhere.
Role
Who you are
- Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related technical field
- 2+ years of experience writing C++ code for embedded systems, preferably in imaging or robotic applications
- Experience implementing image processing, estimation, numerical, or signal processing algorithms
- Experience with bare-metal or RTOS-based software development
Desirable
- Ability to work closely with hardware, flight software, GNC, and test teams to diagnose issues across software, sensors, timing, image quality, and system interfaces
- Experience optimizing software for runtime, memory usage, deterministic execution, and numerical stability
- Familiarity with low-level hardware interfaces such as SPI, I2C, UART, GPIO, timers, ADCs, DMA, and camera or image sensor interfaces
- Strong understanding of linear algebra, coordinate frames, rotations, quaternions, camera models, or geometric vision concepts
- Experience debugging embedded systems using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, hardware debuggers, source-level debuggers, logs, and telemetry
- Hands-on experience developing or testing computer vision, optical navigation, star tracker, pose estimation, target tracking, inspection, or perception algorithms on microcontroller-class hardware
What the job involves
- As an Embedded Software Engineer for Image Processing Algorithms at Impulse, your primary responsibility will be to design, implement, validate, and maintain onboard image processing software for spacecraft systems
- You will work at the intersection of embedded software, imaging sensors, numerical algorithms, estimation, and guidance, navigation, and control systems
- You will collaborate closely with avionics, flight software, GNC, test, and mission operations teams to deliver reliable image processing software capable of operating on microcontroller-class hardware in demanding space environments
- Develop onboard computer vision algorithms for image preprocessing, thresholding, filtering, centroiding, feature extraction, target detection, target tracking, optical navigation, star detection, and attitude or pose estimation support
- Support image conditioning techniques such as calibration, distortion correction, dark-frame correction, thresholding, exposure control, filtering, and image normalization
- Work with GNC, flight software, and mission teams to define algorithm performance requirements, including accuracy, latency, update rate, robustness, fault tolerance, and compute/resource constraints
- Develop test tools, simulation environments, and analysis scripts to evaluate algorithm performance using synthetic imagery, lab imagery, ground test data, and flight-like datasets
- Debug and tune vision software during sensor bring-up, ground testing, environmental testing, and in-flight operations
- Contribute to fault detection, robustness, and recovery logic for cases such as poor lighting, stray light, saturation, blur, dropped frames, hot pixels, occlusions, image noise, and unexpected scene content
- Design algorithms and data pipelines that operate within constrained CPU, memory, storage, bandwidth, timing, and power budgets
Our take
Impulse Space is developing a line of orbital transfer vehicles (OTVs) that enhance satellite manoeuvrability in space. The company offers products like Mira, for last-mile satellite deliveries and Helios, which can move spacecraft from low Earth orbit to geosynchronous orbit in under 24 hours.
Recognizing the strategic value of manoeuvrable spacecraft, the US Space Force awarded Impulse a $34.5M contract for two missions set for 2026. These missions, Victus Surgo and Victus Salo, will demonstrate in-space operations and enhance space domain awareness, showcasing the Space Force's focus on quickly responding to threats in a congested space environment.
Alongside this, the company secured substantial funding that will allow it to expand its operations and advance its OTV technology. With a proven track record of successful missions and strategic partnerships with the Department of Defense, Impulse is well-positioned to lead in the growing market for responsive satellite services.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Company
Funding (last 2 of 7 rounds)
Jun 2026
$500m
SERIES D
Jun 2025
$300m
SERIES C
Total funding: $1.1bn
Company benefits
- Medical, Dental & Vision: Enjoy the best medical, dental and optical coverage money can buy. We've got you and your family covered for all eventualities
- Company Ownership: You’ll be contributing to Impulse's success, so you deserve to share in it. All full-time employees receive a meaningful equity allocation
- Flexible PTO Policy: We believe in work-life harmony more so than "balance". When you are happy & fulfilled outside of work, you will be more productive when you're in it. We offer generous PTO accrual to our full-time employees
Company HQ
South Redondo, Redondo Beach, CA
Leadership
Thomas Mueller
(Founder, CEO & CTO)Prior to founding Impulse Space in 2021, they spent almost 2 decades at SpaceX, initially as a VP of Propulsion Engineering before becoming the Propulsion CTO.
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