Senior Robotics Software Engineer – Lunar Rover Localization at Starpath Robotics (Hawthorne, CA)
Starpath Robotics· Hawthorne, CA· $155k–$200k·
Role details
Equity · PTO · Health Insurance · Dental Insurance · Vision Insurance
Summary
Design and develop software for accurate lunar rover localization using sensor data and localization algorithms. The role involves testing in analog environments and simulations, integrating with autonomy systems, and ensuring robust performance for mission-critical lunar exploration tasks.
Job description
Starpath
Starpath develops and manufactures the technologies that will enable humans to live on the Moon and Mars. Today, we are building robotic systems that locally produce the essential commodities a lunar civilization will require at extreme scale: water, power, and oxygen. Our ultimate goal is to build and operate a self-sustaining city on Mars.
Senior Robotics Software Engineer - Lunar Rover Localization
In this role, you will own the software for accurately determining and tracking the position of our lunar rovers as they navigate on the surface of the Moon. This position requires strong technical understanding of localization algorithms and hands-on experience getting localization systems to work robustly on real robots in the real world. The right candidate for this job is someone who can decide on a technical approach, write the software to implement that approach, test the system on the real rover and in simulation, evaluate the performance of the system, understand where it works well and where it works poorly, decide whether to refine this approach or pivot to a different approach, and repeat this entire cycle quickly.
Starpath is a fast-paced, zero-bureaucracy work environment, and the people who thrive here are those who enjoy working hard, facing difficult challenges, and making rapid progress toward an ambitious vision of the future. Our goal is to launch our rovers to the Moon within the next 1-2 years, demonstrate industrial-scale ISRU for refueling landers, and pave the way for a permanent human lunar base.
Responsibilities
- Design a technical approach that addresses the specific challenges of rover localization on the Moon
- Develop software for accurately determining the position of our rover on the lunar surface based on sensor data (e.g. IMU, cameras, LIDAR, odometry, star tracker, sun sensors, terrain matching)
- Test and evaluate localization performance on our rover prototypes at our lunar analog test site
- Test and evaluate localization performance in Gazebo-based mission simulations based on NASA lunar terrain data
- Work closely with other members of the software team to integrate localization with other parts of our autonomy system (e.g. path planning, hazard avoidance)
Required Qualifications
- 5+ years experience programming in Python and/or C/C++
- Experience developing software to control real robots
- Experience with non-GPS robot localization techniques (e.g. INS, EKF, factor graphs, SLAM)
- Evidence of exceptional engineering ability
- Degree in Computer Science or a related field OR demonstrated excellence at coding via significant professional experience
- Outstanding communications skills
- A desire to make humans a multi-planet species
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with outdoor robots and/or autonomous vehicles
- Experience with robots operating in natural terrain
- Experience with LIDAR-based localization (e.g. LIDAR odometry, LIDAR SLAM)
- Experience with vision-based localization (e.g. visual odometry, VSLAM)
- Experience with terrain matching techniques for localization
- Experience programming in ROS/ROS2
- Experience with robot simulators (e.g. Gazebo, Mujuco)
- Experience developing software for aerospace applications
- Experience developing and deploying software in production
Position Details
- Location: Los Angeles - Hawthorne
- Salary base rate is $155-200k/yr plus equity package; compensation scales with candidate experience
- PTO & health/dental/vision coverage included
- EAR REQUIREMENTS:
- To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.
Why work at Starpath Robotics
- Culture: Startup environment with a bold mission (“build a city on Mars”). High ownership and fast iteration – interns are expected to do “whatever needs doing.”
- Growth: Company growing rapidly (+73.7% YoY headcount); opportunities for early employees to take on significant responsibility.
- Technical depth: Team includes alumni from SpaceX, Boston Dynamics, Anduril, Astrobotic – strong engineering culture.
- Work location: Hawthorne, CA (HQ) with additional office in Burlingame, CA. Onsite presence expected (manufacturing and testing require hands-on work).
- Notable perks: Not explicitly listed, but startup equity and the chance to work on hardware that goes to the Moon and Mars.
- Recent hiring signals: Actively recruiting Technical Recruiter, software engineers, and rover engineers – indicating scaling phase.