Software Engineer, Loft Orbital
Mission Management Services
$140-190k
Plus Equity
3-5 days a week in office
Providing simple, fast, and reliable ways to deploy missions to low Earth orbit.
Be an early applicant
Providing simple, fast, and reliable ways to deploy missions to low Earth orbit.
201-500 employees
Be an early applicant
$140-190k
Plus Equity
3-5 days a week in office
201-500 employees
Company mission
To make space simple for organizations that need Earth observation capabilities.
Role
Who you are
- Strong proficiency in production-grade Python programming
- Experience working with containers
- Solid experience with prominent web development backend frameworks
- Experience with Python numerical and data processing libraries
- Demonstrated experience designing, documenting, and implementing APIs
- Self-motivated, with the ability to work collaboratively as part of an international engineering team
- Strong problem-solving skills and operational awareness
Desirable
- Backend development with Django
- Database experience, at scale, particularly with PostgreSQL
- Space Flight Dynamics experience (orbit, access, passes, etc.)
- Knowledge of advanced scheduling and optimization concepts
- Experience with GraphQL
- Familiarity with Kubernetes in a production environment
- Industry exposure to real-time, high-availability, high-scale or mission-critical distributed systems
What the job involves
- Loft Orbital is seeking a Software Engineer to join our Mission Management Services (MMS) team
- This role is at the heart of developing and maintaining the software that enables spacecraft and constellation scheduling
- You’ll help design, build, and operate core MMS services that create optimal timeframes for client payload access and manage the complexity of multi-satellite operations
- As part of the MMS team, every engineer takes ownership of their work, has the opportunity (and is empowered!) to participate in live satellite operations, and directly impacts real-world missions
- The position offers cutting-edge technical challenges involving the full automation stack, from schedule optimization to software integration for live missions: a unique and exciting blend of software engineering and space system operations
- Design, develop, and maintain backend services to support mission scheduling and constellation management
- Implement and optimize algorithms for automated spacecraft tasking and scheduling
- Simulate and test scenarios across the fleet to provide robust operational capabilities
- Manage deconfliction to prevent resource or operational conflicts
- Contribute to mission-critical open-source libraries and tooling
- Support internal users of Cockpit (our satellite operation software)
- Participate directly in S/C Ops (Spacecraft Operations); all team members rotate through spacecraft operations tasks
- Engage in SatDevOps training to gain hands-on experience with spacecraft operations and build operational expertise within the engineering team
Our take
The use of satellites was once confined to governmental services and communication giants, but recent innovations in satellite deployment have provided new opportunities for businesses to operate satellite fleets. Whilst this allows them to develop IoT products and provide rapid connectivity services to their customers, accessing the technology and resources needed to launch satellite buses is expensive, complex, and dependent on aerospace expertise.
Loft Orbital deploys space infrastructure as a service, providing businesses with rapid, reliable, and simplified access to space technologies. The company focuses on shielding its customers from the complexities of aerospace missions, allowing them to provide satellite-driven products to their customers without requiring expensive consultants, infrastructure, and inventories.
Whilst the company will face significant competition with satellite deployment giants such as SpaceX, Loft Orbital stands out with its turnkey approach, ultimately increasing accessibility and reducing the complexities associated with satellite-driven services. This has positioned it as an approachable partner for clients including Arabsat, which represents satellite monitoring for the entirety of the Arab League, and more recently, Esper Satellites which will be flying their four flagship payloads on Loft's buses.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
42% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 5 rounds)
Jan 2025
$201.3m
SERIES C
Sep 2021
$140m
SERIES B
Total funding: $358.2m
Company HQ
SoMa, San Francisco, CA
Leadership
Pierre-Damien Vaujour
(Co-Founder & CEO)Experience as Aerospace System Engineer for the NASA Ames Research Center's Commercial Partnerships and Mission Design Center. Head of Data Product and Business Development for Spire Global, Inc. from 2013 to 2016.
Alex Greenberg
(Co-Founder & COO)Experience as Engagement Manager for Avascent from 2010 to 2014. Worked in Business Development for Spire from 2014 to 2016.
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