Hiring nowSpace missions and aerospace autonomy

Satellite AI Engineer

Also called Onboard AI Engineer

A Satellite AI Engineer builds AI that runs on a spacecraft or in the ground segment, turning satellite data and operations into useful results within tight compute and power limits. It lets a mission do more with the data and links it can afford.

What they do

The work starts with a mission need, such as picking useful images before downlink, spotting anomalies in telemetry, or helping plan operations. The engineer shapes a model to fit a small processor and a tight power budget, then integrates it with flight software. They build tests in mission simulators and digital twins, using representative data and fault cases. They work with mission operations, flight software and payload teams to agree interfaces and limits. They also decide what stays on the ground and what runs on board, and document how the component behaves when inputs go wrong.

What a strong hire delivers

In the first months, a strong hire turns a mission idea into a working satellite AI component with a clear scope. They set up representative mission tests that the wider team trusts. They show measured results against compute, memory and power limits. They agree safe fallback behaviour with flight software and operations, and leave documentation that others can maintain.

How you can tell they are good

Ask them to walk through one model they got running under hard hardware limits. Strong people explain what they cut, what they measured and what they gave up. Ask how they tested it before flight and what happens when sensors degrade. Be wary of anyone who only talks about accuracy and never mentions power, latency or failure handling.

Why it is hard to fill

Few people have worked on both machine learning and spacecraft constraints. Titles vary, and many good candidates sit in aerospace, operations or robotics roles with no AI label. Others are strong ML engineers who have never met flight software rules. Flight heritage is rare, so we judge simulation and test work closely, and we look for people who can bridge teams.

Where to find them

Look in aerospace engineering, mission operations, robotics, remote sensing and space science. Titles include onboard software engineer, GNC engineer, flight software engineer, data scientist in earth observation and research engineer in autonomy. They come from satellite makers, earth observation companies, space agencies' suppliers, defence contractors and university labs working on space systems.

Indicative pay

Not enough published evidence yet to give a fair range for this role, which is common for work this new. We benchmark it for you as part of a search.

Interview questions for a Satellite AI Engineer

  1. Tell us about a model you fitted onto constrained hardware. What did you trade away?

    A strong answer names the limits, the methods used to shrink or simplify, and the measured cost in quality. They explain why the trade was acceptable. Worry if they quote only accuracy or cannot say what they measured on the target.

  2. How would you decide whether an inference task runs on board or on the ground?

    Good answers weigh downlink capacity, latency, power, risk of error and the ability to update. They ask about the mission goal first. Worry if they default to on board because it sounds advanced.

4 more questions, with what a strong answer covers, are in the Role Kit.

Job description you can post

We build AI that runs on satellites and in the ground systems that support them. We need an engineer who can take a model from idea to a tested component that works within strict compute and power limits, and who can work closely with mission and flight software teams.

What you will do

  • Develop AI components for on-board or ground use with satellite data and operations
  • Adapt models to meet compute, memory and power limits
  • Integrate components with flight software through agreed interfaces
  • Build representative mission tests in simulators and digital twins
  • Define fallback behaviour and failure handling with operations teams
  • Analyse telemetry and mission data to check scientific and operational value
  • Document behaviour, limits and test results

What you will bring

  • Shipped or tested a model on constrained hardware, with measured results
  • Experience with space data, remote sensing or telemetry
  • Comfort working with flight software or embedded systems
  • Experience building simulation-based tests
  • Clear reasoning about reliability and failure cases
  • Ability to work with operations, payload and software teams

Nice to have

  • Experience with mission simulators or digital twins
  • Background in robotics and control
  • Exposure to flight or hardware-in-the-loop testing

Free to use and adapt. If it saves you time, a link back to this page is appreciated.

Skills that matter

  • Robotics and controlAdvancedPerceive, plan and act through physical systems
  • Geospatial and earth systemsAdvancedAnalyse spatial, temporal and environmental information
  • Simulation and digital twinsWorkingBuild useful virtual representations of environments
  • Reliability and incident responseWorkingDetect failures, restore service and prevent recurrence

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How we wrote this

Role definitions are our own editorial work, checked against occupational classifications, standards, research and employer pages. Titles vary by company, and this is a description of the work, not a job advert.

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