Ground Integration Engineer

About Astro Digital

Astro Digital designs, builds, and operates a diverse range of small satellite systems supporting space-based turnkey missions for several business applications, including earth observation, communications, in-orbit demonstrations, risk reduction, science, and exploration. Astro Digital is headquartered in Littleton, Colorado with roughly 75 employees and infrastructure around the globe.

Position Summary

As a Ground Integration Engineer, your primary role will be work directly with ground station providers, satellite operations, IT, and ground software teams, supporting development and integration of ground stations into Astro Digital's ground system to accomplish customer missions.

Ability to gather information from teammates, hold a well-formed mental picture of numerous (sometimes conflicting) requirements, and synthesize these inputs into an effective design is crucial.

Primary Duties & Responsibilities

• Learn all our radios to at least a technician level.
• Be a liaison to and learn/document the technical details of all our ground stations and their nuances
• provide first line of defense for issues that occur (from minor to spacecraft operations halting)
• compile up to date ground segment specifications for the FCC applications
• maintain detailed specifications on the ground infrastructure to re-run link budget analysis on the new radios
• compile ground segment ICDs from different providers, communicate to satellite operations and ground software team
• scope out the ground segment compatibility and develop requirements for the new radios that will be developed so that the radios will be compatible across providers
• Project management and ownership of work, including coordinating passes with Ops to do testing, bring up, and characterization.
• Be the point person for ground station compatibility testing for missions as need arises.
• Work with ground station providers to operationally integrate new and existing radio developments, being the bridge between real-world RF deployments and Ground Station Software team.
• Be communications security point of contact / responsible engineer.
• Lead for programs’ standalone ground infrastructure setup.

Minimum Qualifications

• B.S. or M.S. in engineering (aerospace, computer science, or computer engineering preferred)
• 4+ years experience in engineering or technical aspects of system design (space or ground)
• Dedication to carefully documenting all key aspects of a design
• Ability to read electrical schematics and RF block diagrams
• Familiarity with RF components
• Familiarity with commercially available ground modems for satellites (e.g. qRadio, Work Microwave, GnuRadio)
• Comfort using Linux-based operating systems
• Desire to define and solve problems independently, tempered with experience to know when to seek input
• Ability to listen carefully, decipher meaning, avoid preconceptions, ignore ego, and work with a team towards the best design possible within given constraints
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Interest in collaborating with a first-rate, friendly team

Preferred Qualifications

• Ham radio operator and/or enthusiast.
• Experience designing RF systems from building blocks of RF components.
• Experience integrating ground station providers from link budget to operational data flow.

Work Location

Hybrid (San Jose, CA or Littleton, CO)

Salary

Range (based on experience of candidate): $120,000 - $170,000

Physical Demands

This position requires the ability to lift and move objects weighing up to 50 Lbs. Frequent standing, walking, bending, and reaching may be required.

Export Statement

This position requires access to export-controlled commodities, technical data, technology, software, and services. U.S. citizenship, U.S. legal permanent resident status, or protected person status under 22 CFR §120.15 and 8 U.S.C. § 1324b(a)(3) is required.