Software Engineer, Tracking (Starshield)

SpaceX

Quick summary

Work type: On-site
Location: Hawthorne, CA
Salary: $125,000–$150,000 / yr
Posted: today

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Salary context

Competitive pay

How this pay compares to similar roles

Similar $164k

This role $138k

$117k most similar roles pay here $201k

This role pays less than 61% of similar roles. Most pay $135,000–$193,000 — the shaded band above. At the midpoint, this role pays about $138k versus about $164k for comparable roles.

Based on 240 similar postings.

Employer

About SpaceX

SpaceX designs, manufactures, and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft with the mission of enabling humans to become a multi-planetary species. It operates the Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and Starship launch vehicles, as well as the Starlink satellite internet constellation.

SpaceX currently has 604 open roles on FindRole.

Listed pay typically runs $130,000–$155,000 across 440 roles with salary data.

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At a glance

TL;DR · Software Engineer, Tracking (Starshield)

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Join Starshield’s GNC team as a Software Engineer and contribute to building mission-critical systems for low-earth orbit safety. You will develop payload management and orbital prediction tools for large spacecraft constellations, ensuring their operational efficiency through rigorous analysis pipelines. Daily tasks include defining requirements, prototyping, developing, testing, and deploying software solutions. Ideal candidates have experience in C++ or Python, distributed systems, Docker, Kubernetes, relational databases like PostgreSQL, and satellite or spacecraft systems knowledge. This role demands expertise in profiling application performance to optimize system reliability and scalability for a complex space mission environment.

Skills

Python C++ Docker Kubernetes PostgreSQL CockroachDB relational databases distributed systems satellites or spacecraft systems

What you'll do

Build software tools for analyzing system performance in low-earth orbit.
Construct scenarios to evaluate the effectiveness of payload management and orbital prediction systems.
Develop analysis pipelines to ensure mission-critical systems are functioning correctly for spacecraft fleets.
Use distributed systems knowledge to create robust, scalable software solutions for space applications.
Profile and optimize application performance for large-scale consumer internet systems or satellite operations.

What we're looking for

Bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering, computer science, data science, or an engineering discipline
Experience with C++ or Python software development
Proficiency in distributed systems and containerization tools (Docker, Kubernetes)
Expertise in relational databases such as PostgreSQL or CockroachDB
Previous experience with satellite or spacecraft systems

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