--- title: 'Senior Flight Software Engineer at Relativity Space' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-flight-software-engineer-relativity-space-long-beach-zcndsd0hhe8y' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-10-13' --- # Senior Flight Software Engineer at Relativity Space - **Company:** Relativity Space - **Location:** Long Beach, CA - **Compensation:** $154k–$230k - **Posted:** 2026-08-29 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-13 - **Apply:** https://boards.greenhouse.io/relativity/jobs/8762076002?gh_jid=8762076002 ## Job description At Relativity Space, we’re building rockets to serve today’s needs and tomorrow’s breakthroughs. Our Terran R vehicle will deliver customer payloads to orbit, meeting the growing demand for launch capacity. But that’s just the start. Achieving commercial success with Terran R will unlock new opportunities to advance science, exploration, and innovation, pioneering progress that reaches beyond the known. Joining Relativity means becoming part of something where autonomy, ownership, and impact exist at every level. Here, you're not just executing tasks; you're solving problems that haven’t been solved before, helping develop a rocket, a factory, and a business from the ground up. Whether you’re in propulsion, manufacturing, software, avionics, or a corporate function, you’ll collaborate across teams, shape decisions, and see your work come to life in record time. Relativity is a place where creativity and technical rigor go hand in hand, and your voice will help define the stories we’re writing together. Now is a unique moment in time where it’s early enough to leave your mark on the product, the process, and the culture, but far enough along that Terran R is tangible and picking up momentum. The most meaningful work of your career is waiting. Join us. About the Team: The Vehicle Software team develops the safety-critical software that runs on Terran R. The work spans a distributed, real-time control system operating under extreme conditions like Mach 5 atmospheric flight, with a deployment pace that allows you to see your code run on rocket engines daily. The team is building new system architecture from the ground up and just as importantly, testing, releasing, and deploying it. You don’t need an aerospace background: what matters is experience with high-reliability software for complex systems. This is a rare opportunity to shape the foundation of Terran R’s software stack while directly influencing performance, reliability, and flight success. About the Role: Aerospace experience isn’t required. We value driven engineers with strong computer science fundamental who collaborate well to solve meaningful problems. As a Senior Flight Software Engineer, you will be a technical leader within the team with a high level of autonomy tackling core flight software products that directly impact the Terran R program and be responsible for setting standards and best practices for the team along with mentoring junior engineers. Architect and deliver core flight software with a strong focus on meeting system and performance requirements such as latency, allowed jitter, and control frequency. Work closely with GNC engineers to integrate complex algorithms for vehicle ascent and re-entry, descent and landing. Work closely with Embedded Software Engineers and Avionics to integrate vehicle sensor data such as GPS, IMU, Radar, and to control vehicle equipment such as valves, thrust vector controls, and landing grid fins. Develop telemetry system that prioritizes, filters, stores and forwards, and encodes/decodes telemetry to RF format, and routes that data through ground stations and to data centers. Support the development and integration of testing infrastructure such as HITL (Hardware-In-The-Loop) and HOOTL (Hardware-Out-Of-The-Loop) and physics and fluid sims. Focus on maximizing the team's velocity by defining processes, best practices, integrating modern tools and technologies, and mentoring junior engineers. About You: - An undergraduate or graduate degree in a relevant engineering discipline (Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Aerospace Engineering) with 5+ years experience of production development experience - Experience delivering production-level and high reliability software - Expert in Rust, C++, and/or other system languages, as well as algorithms and data structures - Expert in Linux Operating System concepts such as memory management, CPU shielding, scheduling, etc - Expert in networking concepts such as TCP/IP, UDP - Experience with software development processes including: source control, bug tracking, and CI/CD Nice to haves but not required: - Experience with systems-level programming like synchronization primitives, memory management, etc. - Experience with different inter-process communication methods - Experience with message passing protocol such as flatbuffer or protobuf At Relativity Space, we are committed to transparency and fairness in our compensation practices. Actual compensation will be determined based on experience, qualifications, and other job-related factors. Compensation is only one part of our total rewards package. Relativity Space offers competitive salary and equity, a generous PTO and sick leave policy, parental leave, an annual learning and development stipend, and more! To see some of the benefits & perks we offer, please visit [here.](https://px.sequoia.com/relativityspace) Hiring Range: $154,000—$230,000 USD We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. If you need a reasonable accommodation, please contact us at accommodations@relativityspace.com. Please note: Relativity Space does not accept unsolicited resumes, candidate profiles, or referrals from recruitment agencies or search firms. Any unsolicited submission - via email, our website, social media, or directly to an employee - will be deemed the property of Relativity Space, and no fee will be owed absent a current, fully executed agreement with Talent Acquisition that specifically authorizes submissions for the applicable role. ## About Relativity Space ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Relativity Space builds reusable, 3D‑printed rockets to make space access more reliable, routine, and accessible. - **Entity Type**: Private (Series‑funded; latest leadership change in 2025). - **Headquarters**: Long Beach, California, USA - **Founded**: 2015 (publicly active since 2016) - **Founders**: Tim Ellis and Jordan Noone ## Core Business - **Primary industry**: Aerospace – launch vehicles, additive manufacturing, interplanetary exploration. - **Target customers**: B2B – blue‑chip companies, telecommunications operators, government agencies, and science/exploration organisations. - **Mission**: “To better connect humanity to space and to the universe beyond our planet … make space more accessible, reliable, and sustainable.” ## Products & Services - **[Terran R](https://www.relativityspace.com/)**: Reusable medium‑to‑heavy‑lift launch vehicle. Configurations deliver up to 33,500 kg to LEO (expendable) and 23,500 kg to LEO (downrange landing). Designed for efficiency, scalability, and rapid market entry. - **[Aeon R & Aeon V Engines](https://www.relativityspace.com/locations)**: In‑house, 3D‑printed methane‑fuelled engines produced at the Long Beach HQ using powder‑bed fusion and CNC machining. - **Additive Manufacturing Platform**: Proprietary 3D‑printing technology (Stargate printers) that enables rapid prototyping, reduced part count, and faster iteration cycles. ## Market Standing - **Valuation**: Not publicly disclosed. - **Key Metric**: **$3B+** in pre‑sold launch contracts across more than a dozen customers, including blue‑chip companies and government entities [relativityspace.com](https://www.relativityspace.com/about). - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Eric Schmidt (former Google CEO) became chairman/leader in 2025, bringing technology and national‑security expertise. A diverse customer base includes telecommunications, government, and commercial satellite operators. - **Growth Signals**: - Headcount grown to **~2,000 employees** across 5 US locations (California, Mississippi, Florida, Washington D.C., Seattle) [relativityspace.com](https://www.relativityspace.com/about). - Headquarters in Long Beach is a **1‑million‑square‑foot** facility designed for high‑rate production [relativityspace.com](https://www.relativityspace.com/locations). - Expansion into interplanetary research labs and next‑generation manufacturing. ## Competitive Advantages - **Proven 3D‑printed rockets**: Relativity is the first company to fly a nearly entirely 3D‑printed rocket (Terran 1) and now applies that learning to the larger, reusable Terran R. - **“First‑principles thinking” + aerospace experience**: Rapid iteration, low‑cost prototyping, and additive manufacturing reduce design‑to‑flight timelines. - **New leadership under Eric Schmidt**: Brings deep technology and national‑security networks, accelerating scaling and government contracts. - **$3B+ backlog**: Strong revenue visibility and customer trust before full commercial operations. ## Strategic Focus - **Scale production** of Terran R at the Long Beach HQ to meet demand from commercial and government customers. - **Expand beyond launch** into interplanetary exploration, advanced manufacturing tools, and science‑enabling technologies. - **Increase launch cadence and reusability** to drive down per‑mission cost and open new market segments. ## Why Work Here - **Culture**: Values of **Audacity, Wonder, Humanity, and Relentlessness** – emphasising bold thinking, curiosity, and meaningful results [relativityspace.com/careers](https://www.relativityspace.com/careers). - **Work model**: In‑person collaboration – “best work happens side by side… solving problems together” – with teams co‑located at five US sites. - **Engineering focus**: Deep expertise in aerospace, propulsion, software, and manufacturing; hands‑on work with cutting‑edge hardware and iterative testing. - **Perks & growth**: Comprehensive benefits (details on careers page); opportunity to work on rockets, engines, and additive manufacturing at scale; direct impact on a fast‑moving company aiming to make space accessible. ## Sources 1. [Relativity Space About Page](https://www.relativityspace.com/about) 2. [Relativity Space Home Page](https://www.relativityspace.com/) 3. [Careers Page](https://www.relativityspace.com/careers) 4. [Locations Page](https://www.relativityspace.com/locations) ## Other roles at Relativity Space - [Construction Project Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/construction-project-manager-relativity-space-long-beach-tcfdg4ebr4r2) — Long Beach, CA - [Senior Construction Design Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-construction-design-engineer-relativity-space-long-beach-fes8gggw7bnk) — Long Beach, CA - [Avionics Development Technician](https://feeny.ai/job/avionics-development-technician-relativity-space-long-beach-ca703mq2fy57) — Long Beach, CA - [Design and Construction Laborer](https://feeny.ai/job/design-and-construction-laborer-relativity-space-long-beach-b3kadapdc65t) — Long Beach, CA - [Senior Avionics Hardware Engineer, Power](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-avionics-hardware-engineer-power-relativity-space-long-beach-dw9k4stwnq9k) — Long Beach, CA - [Senior Avionics Hardware Engineer, RF](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-avionics-hardware-engineer-rf-relativity-space-long-beach-zbmx4w0ctsgr) — Long Beach, CA - [Senior Avionics Test Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-avionics-test-engineer-relativity-space-long-beach-mnmbjf53pxqq) — Long Beach, CA - [Senior Avionics Systems Test Engineer, Operations](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-avionics-systems-test-engineer-operations-relativity-space-long-beach-t2r1vr0571r9) — Long Beach, CA - [Lead Engineer, Avionics Battery Test](https://feeny.ai/job/lead-engineer-avionics-battery-test-relativity-space-long-beach-4xrff33p4081) — Long Beach, CA - [Lead Avionics Test Systems Engineer, Ground Systems](https://feeny.ai/job/lead-avionics-test-systems-engineer-ground-systems-relativity-space-long-beach-wkw9f3nwkpz4) — Long Beach, CA