Software Engineer

About Infostellar

Infostellar is a Japanese startup taking on a global challenge, working under the mission “We connect Earth and Space to empower the future.” As a GSaaS (Ground Segment as a Service) provider for orbiting satellites, we lower the difficulty of building a ground segment, and support companies pursuing new satellite-enabled businesses as they develop their missions and improve their services. Through StellarStation, our cloud platform that virtualizes ground station networks, we provide a ground station network with excellent flexibility and scalability. We also support the ground segment work that satellite operations require, such as obtaining radio station licenses and coordinating frequencies.

We are looking for people to join us in taking on the challenge of the global space industry.

About the role

We are building a Go-based system that connects ground station hardware located around the world to the cloud over MQTT, running on Kubernetes together with serverless environments such as AWS Lambda.

Your scope spans the entire system. You will be involved in a wide range of development, from the modems and antenna rotators installed at remote antenna sites and the edge software that controls them, through to the pass (communication opportunity) scheduling API and web console that satellite operators use every day.

This position is primarily a software engineering role. If you have hands-on experience in RF (radio frequency) or ground system areas such as satellite tracking, modems, spectrum analyzers, or signal troubleshooting, that will be a significant strength you can make full use of here.

Our development environment

• Backend: Go services, AWS Lambda (container images), REST/OpenAPI APIs (automatic code generation with oapi-codegen and sqlc)
• Messaging: MQTT on AWS IoT Core (ground station to cloud connections with mutual TLS authentication), an SQS-based event bus
• Cloud (AWS): compute (Kubernetes, Lambda), API Gateway, Aurora PostgreSQL, DynamoDB, S3, Cognito, CloudFront, EventBridge
• Ground segment: Docker-based edge agents that control physical hardware (Cortex series modems, antenna rotators, optical terminals, and more) over TCP and serial connections, orbit propagation for visibility calculation
• Infrastructure and CI/CD: Terraform (including our own in-house Terraform provider), GitHub Actions, Git + GitHub
• Frontend: TypeScript, React
• Observability: Prometheus (metrics), OpenTelemetry (distributed tracing)

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, test, deploy, and maintain the system that virtualizes a wide variety of ground station networks around the world on a single platform
• Build fast and scalable backend services in Go (pass scheduling, data delivery, ground station management, and more, on a global cloud infrastructure)
• Build and operate the MQTT-based data path that sends and receives commands, telemetry, and mission data between ground stations and the cloud quickly and reliably
• Develop an intuitive and flexible service management UI (pass scheduling, SLA monitoring, billing dashboards, and more)
• Work to lower the barrier for satellite operators and ground station partners to connect to the platform as much as possible, and accelerate the growth of the network
• Develop software that communicates with modems, antenna rotators, and receivers over TCP/IP and serial protocols
• Improve the efficiency, scalability, security, and reliability of the platform, and build tools that reduce vulnerabilities and automate routine work
• Carry out design and code reviews, develop in an agile process, and manage the priorities, deadlines, and deliverables of your own tasks

• Additional responsibilities for those with RF (radio) strengths

  • Define and maintain the process for onboarding low earth orbit (LEO) satellites and ground stations onto our platform StellarStation, and drive projects from proposal through integration testing to production operation
  • Evaluate customer and partner radio systems remotely and on site, analyze recorded signals, and troubleshoot across the entire signal path
  • Write GNU Radio blocks and scripts, and operate software-defined radios (SDR)
  • Configure ground station equipment and verify its operation

Requirements

These are skills the team covers as a whole. You do not need to meet all of them yourself, and we welcome you if you have strengths in the main areas.

• A bachelor’s or master’s degree in computer science, electrical engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
• Development experience in Linux/Unix environments
• Development experience with two or more general-purpose programming languages (experience with Go and Python is welcome, along with the willingness and ability to learn new languages as needed)
• Development experience with a major cloud platform, AWS in particular
• An understanding of testing methods and hands-on experience with testing (any of unit, integration, acceptance, UI, or performance testing)
• Working knowledge of SQL and Git
• Experience seeing an engineering project through from start to finish while working with teams in different offices and regions
• Business-level English and Japanese (both speaking and writing are required)
• A strong passion for or interest in satellites, rockets, and the aerospace field

Nice to haves

While not specifically required, tell us if you have any of the following.

• Software and cloud

  • Production experience developing in Go
  • Experience building and operating Kubernetes or serverless architectures (AWS Lambda, API Gateway, DynamoDB, SQS)
  • Knowledge of MQTT (AWS IoT Core and similar), other pub/sub messaging systems, and event-driven architecture
  • Experience with Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using Terraform, along with Docker and CI/CD pipelines
  • Experience writing drivers that communicate with servers, equipment, and sensors over TCP/IP, SNMP, RS-232/422/485, and similar
  • Knowledge of internet routing technology and advanced network troubleshooting skills
  • Experience testing cloud-based or distributed software systems
  • Frontend development experience with TypeScript and React

• RF (radio) and aerospace

  • Three or more years of hands-on experience designing, developing, operating, and evaluating communication systems
  • Experience tracking and operating low earth orbit (LEO) satellites, or hands-on experience operating satellites or ground stations
  • Experience handling radio modems and spectrum analyzers
  • Experience with products from major ground station equipment vendors (Safran Cortex series, Kratos, Amergint, and others)
  • Hands-on experience with GNU Radio and software-defined radio (SDR), and the ability to analyze recorded signals
  • Knowledge of orbital mechanics or flight dynamics
  • Work experience in the aerospace industry
  • Professional technical or radio qualifications, such as a Technical Radio Operator for On-The-Ground Services (陸上無線技術士)

• Other

  • Experience in customer consulting or systems analysis (the ability to structure and optimize how value is delivered to customers)