Senior Communication Systems Engineer - Spacecraft

Job description

***Please Note:**To conform with the United States Government Space Technology Export Regulations, the applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., conditional resident, asylee or refugee (protected individuals as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.* At **CesiumAstro**, we are developers and pioneers of out-of-the-box communication systems for satellites, UAVs, launch vehicles, and other space and airborne platforms. We take pride in our dynamic and cross-functional work environment, which allows us to learn, develop, and engage across our organization. If you are looking for hands-on, interactive, and autonomous work, CesiumAstro is the place for you. We are actively seeking passionate, collaborative, energetic, and forward-thinking individuals to join our team. We are designing, building, and launching 8 new satellites in the next four years. They are BIG and super capable RF payload rideshare SmallSats. Our launches are already secured. Our in-house test facilities are built. If you want to own critical communications for these LEO communications satellites and then have the chance to iterate and improve your design at a rapidly growing tech company, this is your chance. We’re looking for builders, problem-solvers, and system thinkers. As a **Senior Communication Systems Engineer**, you will own the design, configuration, and operation of the satellite’s space-to-ground communication links. You will define how the satellite communicates with the ground in both nominal and off-nominal conditions, ensuring reliable command, telemetry, and fault recovery. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in systems engineering, expertise with both space-based communication payloads and ground terminals, and proven ability to coordinate activities across multidisciplinary engineering teams. ### JOB DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES - Model, analyze and maintain the satellite’s link budget, modulation and coding, ensuring reliable communications from space to ground for all RF links. - Architect hardware-based crypto solutions for flight hardware, manage pass-throughs and end points for users and operations. - Strong understanding of ground station and network operations with the ability to troubleshoot issues with commercial providers and on-site terminals. - Define how the radios are used in different mission phases, including contingency operations and emergency recovery. - Contribute to the RF link test campaign and work with flight software and ground teams to validate end-to-end communication link performance, from antenna to command center. - Optimize low-SWaP communications, mitigate interference, and ensure robust, fail-safe links. ### WHAT A SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATE LOOKS LIKE - You understand how to design, analyze, and operate spaceborne communication links. - You can balance power, bandwidth, protocols and noise to ensure reliable space-to-ground connectivity. You can answer “what’s the link budget” with thorough analysis, EbN0, EsN0, or effective data rate given a variety of conditions. - Extensive and practical experience with crypto—From COMSEC plan development, key management to system trouble shooting you have applied, on the ground experience. - You know how comms fit into the broader mission, from flight software integration to ground operations - You are comfortable identifying problems and using your expertise to find solutions. - You can prototype, test, and iterate quickly, focusing on what’s needed to get a mission off the ground. ### JOB REQUIREMENTS AND MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS - Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering or a related field - A minimum of 5 years of experience with emphasis on satellite communications, RF system engineering, or related fields - Experience in design, verification, and operation of satellite communication links - Strong understanding of link budget analysis, modulation schemes, and ground station interfaces - Hands-on experience configuring and testing ground station equipment and space-qualified radios and antennas - Practical understanding of how space links fail, why, and how to fix them before they break - Ability to define and implement communication system CONOPS for nominal and emergency operations - Experience with satellite communication link licensing and regulatory compliance (ITU/FCC)