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Ground Segment RF Engineer

Vast

Saas

51-200

Long Beach, CA, USA

About the job

Overview:

At Vast, our mission is to contribute to a future where billions of people are living and thriving in space. We are building artificial gravity space stations, allowing long-term stays in space without the adverse effects of zero-gravity. Our initial crewed space habitat will be Haven-1, scheduled to be the world’s first commercial space station when it launches into low earth orbit in August 2025. Our team is all-in, committed to executing our mission safely and on time. If you want to work with the most talented people on Earth furthering space exploration for humanity, come join us.
Vast is looking for a Ground Stations RF Engineer, reporting to the Director of Ground Segment & Mission Ops, to support the development of the systems that will be required for the design and build of artificial-gravity human-rated space stations. As a Ground Stations RF Engineer, you will contribute to all phases of ground segment system development, from initial concept to the operation and support of Vast’s on-orbit missions. The Ground Segment team builds ground stations, selects and integrates ground stations from our partner networks, and works on console in mission operations. The ideal candidate will have a proven track record in the design and build of electrical, mechanical, and RF systems, and exceptional troubleshooting and infrastructure integration skills.
This will be an exempt role located in Long Beach.
Responsibilities:

Design and build next-generation ground station networks for Haven-1
Conduct trade studies for ground segment assets and review technical proposals for their selection
Oversee operations of Telemetry Tracking and Command (TT&C) ground stations supporting our on-orbit vehicles
Lead the build out of our ground station systems through all phases from site acquisition, frequency license approval (in collaboration w/ legal and RF teams), installation, hardware integration, testing, calibration to operations
Oversee the health and status of the ground station network during the launch and early orbit phase of spacecraft operations
Work closely with the Ground Segment Software team to integrate telemetry and telecommand data to and from ground stations with Vast mission operations software systems
Design and build ground infrastructure for mission operations voice systems
Comprehensively trade and select for integration ground station providers/networks into Vast’s ground segment infrastructure
Rigorously test the communications interface between both our ground station and vehicle test hardware and ground station and ground software systems

Minimum Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree in electrical, aerospace, or software engineering, or other engineering discipline
2+ years of industry experience designing, implementing and testing system-level communication architecture
2+ years of experience with RF tools and equipment such as Receivers, Front-End Processors, Spectrum Analyzers, VNAs, Power Meters, Cable Analyzers, SDRs, etc.

Preferred Skills & Experience:

Fundamental skills needed to design and build electrical, mechanical, and RF systems
Ability to creatively solve problems and bring multiple disciplines together while assessing risk and making design and development decisions with incomplete data sets
Strong sense of accountability and integrity with excellent written and verbal communication skills
Comprehensive knowledge and experience with the Linux operating system.
Familiarity with GNU Radio or similar software
Proficiency in working with software-defined radios (SDRs)
Extensive experience in using spectrum and vector network analyzers for RF testing and troubleshooting
Demonstrated expertise in systems integration and complex systems debugging
Strong grasp of electronics and RF theory, and hands-on experience with electronics hardware, including both analog and digital
Experience with programming & scripting: Matlab, Python, C/C++, JS, etc
Experience with full-lifecycle product development
Solid understanding of telemetry systems
Capability to manage complex projects, including experience leading technical teams through all phases from concept to completion.
Superior communication skills, both verbal and written
Previous involvement with antenna design, radio frequency (RF) systems, and ground station operations
Prior work on large scale, high reliability systems
Knowledge of RF demodulation, decommutation, FEC and CRC decoding, IRIG or CCSDS decoding techniques, Best-Source Selecting, for use in RF receiving front-end systems
Understanding of signal processing - Nyquist, sampling rates, data decimation

Additional Requirements:

Willingness to travel as required to domestic and international ground station sites (< 25%)
Willingness to work evenings and/or weekends to support critical mission milestones