Senior Flight Software Engineer

<div class="content-intro"><p>At Vast, our mission is to contribute to a future where billions of people are living and thriving in space. Vast is developing next-generation space stations to ensure a continuous human presence in space for America and its allies, enabling advanced microgravity research and manufacturing, and unlocking a new space economy for government, corporate, and private customers. Using an incremental, hardware-rich and low-cost approach, Vast is rapidly developing its multi-module Haven Station. Haven Demo’s 2025 success made Vast the only operational commercial space station company to fly and operate its own spacecraft. Next, Haven-1 is expected to become the world’s first commercial space station when it launches, followed by additional Haven modules to enable permanent human presence by 2030. Our team is all-in, committed to executing our mission safely and on time. If you want to work with the most talented people on Earth furthering space exploration for humanity, come join us.</p></div><p>Vast is seeking a <strong>Senior Flight Software Engineer </strong>to own flight software development and verification for a new constellation-ready spacecraft bus — a product line designed to scale to hundreds of spacecraft per year.</p>
<p>This will be a <strong>full-time</strong>, <strong>exempt </strong>position located in our<strong> Long Beach </strong>location. </p>
<p><strong>About the role:</strong></p>
<p>You'll start with a proven heritage FSW baseline from prior Vast missions and a reusable ground segment — that's your foundation, not your ceiling. The heritage system was built for single-satellite missions. The real work is scaling it for a constellation product line: new GNC algorithms, updated C&DH, payload interfaces for multiple customer types, fault protection, and autonomy — all architected to work across a fleet, not just one spacecraft. As the product line scales to hundreds of spacecraft per year, you'll solve the constellation-specific FSW challenges — configuration management across payload variants, fleet software updates, and multi-satellite operations support. You're the primary stakeholder and customer of the HITL lab, driving its requirements and using it as your verification environment. You'll build and lead a small FSW team to execute all of this.</p>
<p><strong>Responsibilities: </strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Assess the heritage FSW baseline — catalog what's reusable, what needs modification, what's new for this mission</li>
<li>Implement GNC software — attitude determination, CMG steering law, mode management, momentum management (the GNC lead defines the algorithms, you implement and verify them in flight code)</li>
<li>Modify C&DH software — command and data handling, telemetry definitions, fault management updates for new bus architecture</li>
<li>Develop payload interface software for multiple payload types across the manifest</li>
<li>Build test and simulation infrastructure — unit test framework, software-in-the-loop (SIL) environment</li>
<li>Drive HITL lab requirements — define what the lab needs to verify, serve as its primary stakeholder and customer</li>
<li>Own flight software build, release, and configuration management processes</li>
<li>Develop on-board fault protection and autonomy for the satellite bus</li>
<li>Verify ground segment software interface compatibility (heritage ground segment, new bus)</li>
<li>Solve constellation-scale FSW challenges — configuration management across payload variants, fleet software updates, and multi-satellite operations support</li>
<li>Support on-orbit commissioning planning for FSW</li>
<li>Build and grow an FSW team as the program scales — define roles and hire as complexity demands</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Minimum Qualifications:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical discipline</li>
<li>6+ years of embedded flight software development experience</li>
<li>Spacecraft flight software development experience — C/C++ on Linux-based or embedded real-time systems</li>
<li>Experience modifying and extending heritage flight software baselines (not just building from scratch)</li>
<li>GNC software implementation — translating control algorithms into flight code with real-time constraints</li>
<li>Experience defining HITL lab requirements and using HITL environments for FSW verification</li>
<li>C&DH subsystem experience — command processing, telemetry, data storage, fault management</li>
<li>Familiar with flight software V&V processes — unit test, SIL, HITL, integration test</li>
<li>Comfortable owning an entire FSW subsystem on a fast timeline with a small team</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Preferred Skills & Experience:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Able to obtain a security clearance</li>
<li>ADCS flight software experience on spacecraft or real-time robotics systems</li>
<li>Multi-satellite FSW configuration management — handling payload variants across a constellation</li>
<li>Experience with Linux-based flight software architectures</li>
<li>RTOS experience (RTEMS, FreeRTOS, Zephyr, or similar) for microcontroller nodes</li>
<li>Ground segment integration and compatibility testing</li>
</ul><div class="content-pay-transparency"><div class="pay-input"><div class="title">Pay Range: California</div><div class="pay-range"><span>$159,900</span><span class="divider">—</span><span>$226,980 USD</span></div></div></div><div class="content-conclusion"><p style="line-height: 1;"><strong>COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS<br></strong><br>Base salary will vary depending on job-related knowledge, education, skills, experience, business needs, and market demand. Salary is just one component of our comprehensive compensation package. Full-time employees also receive company equity, as well as access to a full suite of compelling benefits and perks, including: medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and dependents, generous paid time off; up to 20+ days of vacation for exempt staff and up to 10+ days of vacation for non-exempt staff with the ability to cash-out unused vacation annually, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability insurance, life insurance, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, ClassPass credits, personalized mental healthcare through Spring Health, and other discounts and perks. We also take pride in offering exceptional food perks, with snacks, drip coffee & onsite barista, cold drinks, and dinner meals remaining free of charge, and lunch subsidized as part of Vast’s ongoing commitment to providing high-quality meals for employees.</p>
<p style="line-height: 1;"><strong><br>U.S. EXPORT CONTROL COMPLIANCE STATUS<br><br></strong>The person hired will have access to information and items subject to U.S. export controls, and therefore, must either be a “U.S. person” as defined by <a href="https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-22/section-120.62">22 C.F.R. § 120.62</a> or otherwise eligible for deemed export licensing. This status includes U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, lawful permanent residents (green card holders), and asylees and refugees with such status granted, not pending.<br><br></p>
<p style="line-height: 1;"><strong>EQUAL OPPORTUNITY</strong><br><br>Vast is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Vast is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.</p></div>