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Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Payload Systems Engineer I - **Company:** Moore Information Inc - **Location:** Los Angeles, United States - **Experience:** Starter - **Salary:** $99,000.0 - $133,000.0 - **Contract:** Internship / Graduate position - **Skills:** Systems Engineering, Computer Vision, Python (Programming Language), Real-Time Operating Systems, Test Scripts, Information Technology, Lidar - **Published:** October 4, 2026 - **Apply:** https://startup.jobs/payload-systems-engineer-i-lodestar-10195279 ## About the Role * Bachelor's or Master's degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical or Electronic Engineering, Physics, Optics or Photonics, Robotics, Computer Science, or demonstrated equivalent knowledge * 0-2 years of professional experience. Early-career candidates, including recent graduates, are encouraged to apply * Hands-on evidence of building something real and making it work, such as a university cubesat or rocketry team, research lab, Formula Student, a hardware internship, or a project taken from nothing to working. We weight this far above grades * Working proficiency in Python, * Space exposure in any form: cubesat program, hosted payload, space or defense internship, or a space-focused Master's project * Optics and photonics bench work (laser safety experience, e.g. ANSI Z136, a plus) * Computer vision * Closed-loop pointing and control * Environmental test and integration * Systems engineering practice * Embedded or real-time software ## Description As a Payload Engineer I at Lodestar, you'll join the payload team as a primary delivery engineer, taking the payload from laboratory breadboard to qualified engineering model. You'll help design, build, integrate and test the payload across optics, mechanical, avionics and software. Working alongside senior systems, GNC, electronics and optics engineers, you'll take the engineering model through design reviews, integration and qualification. This is an early-career role with a deliberately broad scope. We're looking for hands-on building experience and fast learning rather than a long track record, and you'll own the engineering model from day one with the support to grow into it., * Own the payload engineering model day to day, end to end: requirements, design, build, integration, test and write-up * Develop payload, autonomy, effector, power, thermal and pointing requirements, and the ICDs between payload, avionics and spacecraft bus * Prepare SRR, PDR and CDR packages, and keep the verification matrix and risk register current between reviews * Integrate the engineering model: effector subsystem, edge-compute avionics, and a multimodal sensor suite (optical, LiDAR, radar) * Carry out optical alignment and performance verification, and feed corrective design iterations back into the build * Run hardware-in-the-loop testing in the Void Lab, closing the loop from perception through to pointing against simulated orbital targets * Support environmental qualification (TVAC, launch vibration, EMC/EMI), including pre- and post-test functional testing and the anomaly and corrective-action trail * Deliver an end-to-end ground demonstration on a payload-in-the-loop testbed * Produce technical documentation: test reports, qualification records, and performance assessments against requirements ## Related Videos - [How to develop an autonomous car end-to-end: Robotic Drive and the mobility revolution](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/22-how-to-develop-an-autonomous-car-end-to-end-robotic-drive-and-the-mobility-revolution) - [Focoos AI: Building the Future of Computer Vision](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1659-focoos-ai-building-the-future-of-computer-vision) - [Robots are coming into the wild! Full-Stack Robotics Engineers, be ready!](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/479-robots-are-coming-into-the-wild-full-stack-robotics-engineers-be-ready) - [Are Classical Automation Frameworks Dead? How AI Agents Are Transforming QA](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100243-are-classical-automation-frameworks-dead-how-ai-agents-are-transforming-qa) - [Remote Driving on Plant Grounds with State-of-the-Art Cloud Technologies](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/251-remote-driving-on-plant-grounds-with-state-of-the-art-cloud-technologies) - [Robots 2.0: When artificial intelligence meets steel](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1452-robots-2-0-when-artificial-intelligence-meets-steel) ## Related Articles - [How We Built a Worry-Free System That Runs for 10+ Years – And What We’d Do Again](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/751-how-we-built-a-worry-free-system-that-runs-for-10-years-and-what-we-d-do-again) - [Is Software Engineering Hard?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/448-is-software-engineering-hard) - [ I Gave a Video Editor More Autonomy Than a Trading Bot. On Purpose.](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/773-i-gave-a-video-editor-more-autonomy-than-a-trading-bot-on-purpose) - [Where to Find Entry-Level Software Engineering Jobs](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/397-where-to-find-entry-level-software-engineering-jobs) - [Highest Paying Tech Companies for Developers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/220-highest-paying-tech-companies-for-developers) - [Is Software Engineering Over-Saturated?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/418-is-software-engineering-over-saturated)