Space Systems Engineer, Space Operations

The Space Operations team is crucial to Planet’s success, responsible for maintaining and optimizing the health and productivity of the world’s largest Earth Observation satellite constellation. Our team spans North America and Berlin. Given the scale of our fleet, automation is at the heart of our operations. You’ll develop and maintain critical software, transforming large datasets into actionable metrics.

As a Space Systems Engineer, you’ll support daily satellite operations, analyze data, triage and resolve anomalies, run on-orbit experiments, test and deploy software both on the ground and in orbit, and commission satellites. You’ll work closely with hardware and software experts across teams to debug anomalies, enhance or create services, and provide operational insights to shape our next-generation satellites.

We are looking for a data-driven self-starter with effective communication skills that collaborates well within a technical team and adapts quickly to changing tasks and contexts.

This is a full-time, hybrid role which will require you to work from our Berlin office 3 days per week.

Impact You’ll Own:

• Conduct daily fleet checks and support On-Call shifts
• Test and deploy flight software upgrades, debug satellite anomalies, and perform on-orbit experiments
• Create and maintain operational procedures
• Develop and maintain real-time, mission-critical software solutions for satellite operations
• Write scripts to aggregate satellite data and generate system monitoring metrics
• Analyze data to identify issues and inefficiencies in the full stack of services and propose solutions
• Drive improvements to fleet capacity and productivity through process enhancements
• Provide feedback to launch, manufacturing, and spacecraft engineering teams based on on-orbit performance, technical demonstrations, and forecasting models
• Shape operational strategies for next-generation spacecraft

• 2+ years of relevant work experience
• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, computer science, or equivalent experience
• Proficiency in software development, particularly in Python or similar languages
• Data-driven mindset with experience in statistical analysis
• Familiarity with the space environment and its challenges
• Proactive approach to engineering and problem-solving
• Effective interpersonal and collaboration skills within a technical team
• Professional working proficiency in English, the working language of the company

What Makes You Stand Out:

• Experience with Agile software development
• Proficiency in DevOps tools and practices (e.g., Git, GitLab, Docker, Jenkins, Bash, Linux, CI/CD, Sentry, Datadog)
• Hands-on experience operating spacecraft or remote systems
• Practical expertise in data analysis for problem-solving
• Familiarity with automation and optimization tools
• Contributions to open-source software projects

These offerings are dependent on employment type and geographical location, based upon applicable law or company policy.

• Paid time off including vacation, holidays and company-wide days off
• Employee Wellness Program
• Home Office Reimbursement
• Monthly Phone and Internet Reimbursement
• Tuition Reimbursement and access to LinkedIn Learning
• Equity
• Volunteering Paid Time Off, The expected starting gross salary range for this role is listed below. Individual placement within this range is determined objectively based on gender-neutral criteria such as your skills, qualifications, and professional experience. This position may also be eligible for discretionary bonuses and/or equity. Germany Salary Range €48.100-€60.100 EUR

San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Welcome to Planet. We believe in using space to help life on Earth.

Planet designs, builds, and operates the largest constellation of imaging satellites in history. This constellation delivers an unprecedented dataset of empirical information via a revolutionary cloud-based platform to authoritative figures in commercial, environmental, and humanitarian sectors. We are both a space company and data company all rolled into one.

Customers and users across the globe use Planet’s data to develop new technologies, drive revenue, power research, and solve our world’s toughest obstacles.

As we control every component of hardware design, manufacturing, data processing, and software engineering, our office is a truly inspiring mix of experts from a variety of domains.

We have a people-centric approach toward culture and community and we strive to iterate in a way that puts our team members first and prepares our company for growth. Join Planet and be a part of our mission to change the way people see the world.

Planet is a global company with employees working remotely world wide and joining us from offices in San Francisco, Washington DC, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, and The Netherlands.