---
title: 'Software Engineer I: Perception at Lodestar'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-i-perception-lodestar-los-angeles-86nt051a9fsr'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-09'
---

# Software Engineer I: Perception at Lodestar

- **Company:** Lodestar
- **Location:** Los Angeles, CA
- **Posted:** 2026-09-07
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-09
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.eu.greenhouse.io/lodestarspace/jobs/4969597101

## Job description

## About Lodestar

Lodestar's mission is to develop the first "Protect and Defend" capability for high-value space assets in orbit. Our flagship product MITHRIL is the critical hardware & software necessary to augment any off-the-shelf spacecraft with the ability to autonomously detect, characterise, and reversibly neutralise orbital threats. By building on the proven space heritage of our best-in-class satellite-bus partners and fully integrating MITHRIL as a single platform, we deliver a fully autonomous end-to-end protection spacecraft service.

## About the Job

As a Software Engineer I - Perception at Lodestar, you’ll be joining the perception and machine vision teams to rapidly grow our vision and perception models at MITHRIL’s center.

You'll help build and refine algorithms that detect, classify and understand unknown space targets in real time. Working alongside senior perception engineers, you'll combine computer vision, image processing and machine learning to develop the custom models that underpin autonomous decision-making in complex and uncertain space environments.

This is an early-career role. We're looking for strong fundamentals and fast learning rather than a long track record, and you'll be given real ownership early with the support to grow into it.

We proudly have an "extreme ownership" oriented engineering culture.

## What You’ll Do

- Contribute to the perception system at the core of Lodestar's autonomy software suite
- Work through the full lifecycle of perception algorithms alongside senior engineers including literature review, training, evaluation, optimisation and deployment
- Build on and optimise our existing models for edge computing, and develop new components with guidance from the perception leads
- Help develop and test our methods for predicting the relative pose of dynamic space targets in harsh and unpredictable visual environments
- Integrate perception models into mission simulation environments and real-time autonomy pipelines
- Contribute to the design of realistic sensor models and digital twins to improve perception fidelity in mission scenarios
- Maintain and extend our perception tooling, model training infrastructure, and evaluation frameworks
- Collaborate across the autonomy, estimation, and mission software teams to support perception fidelity, performance, and scalability

## Basic Qualifications

- Bachelor's or Master's degree in AI/ML, Computer Science, Robotics, a related field, or equivalent experience
- 0–2 years of professional experience in machine learning, robotics, computer vision, or a related field. Internships, research placements, and substantial academic or personal projects all count
- Solid software engineering skills in Python, and working proficiency in C++
- Foundational DNN/ML knowledge and hands-on experience with computer vision or image processing libraries (e.g. OpenCV)
- Demonstrated ability to take an ML model from training through to evaluation, in any setting — coursework, research, or industry

## Preferred Skills & Experience

- Experience developing or deploying ML models to real-time or resource-constrained systems
- Broad understanding of modern perception systems and their architecture
- Exposure to sensor measurements from RADAR, electro-optical sensors, RF sensors, or LIDAR
- Familiarity with image processing techniques (e.g. feature extraction, segmentation, filtering, stereo matching) to support 3D reconstruction and target classification
- Experience optimising neural networks or geometric algorithms using CUDA kernels, TensorRT, or other GPU acceleration frameworks
- Exposure to distributed training or cloud-based scaling of ML models (AWS, GCP, or Azure)
- Experience with Linux, Git, and CI/CD pipelines
- Comfortable with containerisation tools such as Docker and Kubernetes
- Understanding of networking and communication protocols for distributed autonomy systems

ITAR Requirements

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR [here](https://www.pmddtc.state.gov/?id=ddtc_kb_article_page&sys_id=24d528fddbfc930044f9ff621f961987).

## Compensation & Benefits

- Pay Range for this role:
- (P1) Entry: $99,000 - $133,000 / year
- (P2) Developing: $115,000 - $174,000 / year
- Meaningful equity incentives as part of our employee option pool
- Flexible PTO with generous paid vacation, holidays, and sick leave
- Comprehensive medical, dental & vision coverage
- 401(k) retirement plan with company match
- Los Angeles

Additional Information

Compensation bands are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual level and base pay is determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on job-related skills, education, experience, technical capabilities and internal equity. In addition to base salary, for full-time hires, you may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of stock options , and access to medical, vision and dental coverage, as well as access to a 401(k) retirement plan.

Lodestar is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Lodestar is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

## About Lodestar

## Core Business
- **Primary Industry**: Defense and Space Manufacturing
- **Target Customers**: Government and allied defense agencies (B2G); specifically US and allied space asset operators
- **Mission**: To deter conflict in space by providing credible, sovereign orbital defense capabilities through autonomous AI software and satellite platforms.

## Products & Services
- **Mithril AI (Autonomous AI Fighter-Pilot)**: Software that runs on orbital bodyguard satellites, enabling real-time space situational awareness, threat detection, classification, and autonomous response. Designed for on-orbit SDA, inspection, and effect delivery.
- **Orbital Defence as a Service**: End-to-end protection stack for high-value satellites, from detection and intelligence to active response, delivered via a fleet of bodyguard satellites.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available (private company)
- **Key Metric**: Total funding of approximately $3.55M (as of early 2026), comprising a $2.5M Pre-Seed round led by Lunar Ventures and Inflection, plus grants from the UK Space Agency ($1M) and European Space Agency.
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Lunar Ventures, Inflection, UK Space Agency, European Space Agency, Charlie Songhurst, Zehan Wang
- **Growth Signals**: 
  - 14 employees with 8 active job postings (indicating rapid scaling)
  - First satellite payload scheduled for launch in early 2027
  - Government contracts and briefings with Pentagon and UK defense stakeholders
  - Growing European defense budgets (e.g., Germany’s €30-35B by 2030)

## Competitive Advantages
- **Purpose-built for defense**: Unlike competitors that repurpose commercial tech, Lodestar designs from the ground up for resilience, responsiveness, and sovereignty in contested orbits.
- **End-to-end protection stack**: The only company offering a unified system from detection to autonomous response, rather than point solutions.
- **AI-first approach**: The core asset is the AI model, not the satellite hardware, allowing rapid adaptation to evolving threats without long hardware cycles.
- **Government trust**: Early backing from UK Space Agency and ESA, plus direct engagement with Pentagon-level customers.

## Strategic Focus
- Launch first on-orbit payload to gather proximity data and validate AI models in space
- Expand partnerships with allied defense agencies and prime contractors
- Scale the team (especially engineering and avionics) to accelerate product development
- Win additional government contracts for operational bodyguard satellite systems

## Why Work Here
- **Mission-driven culture**: Work on one of the most pressing national security challenges – space defense – with a clear, unapologetic mission to deter conflict.
- **Cutting-edge technology**: Tackle hard problems in AI, computer vision, on-board autonomy, and spacecraft systems.
- **Small team, big impact**: 14-person team with flat structure; engineers have direct ownership of critical systems.
- **Growth opportunity**: Rapidly scaling with 8 open roles; chance to shape the company’s technical direction.
- **Locations**: Offices in Los Angeles (HQ) and London, UK; hybrid/remote flexibility likely (based on speculative applications accepted from US and UK).
- **Notable perks**: Work with former engineers from MBDA, Orbex, Airbus Defence & Space, and Imperial College London rocketry teams.

## Sources
1. [Lodestar Space Website](https://www.lodestar.space/)
2. [LinkedIn Company Page](https://www.linkedin.com/company/lodestarspace)
3. [CB Insights Profile](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/lodestar-3)
4. [UKspace Member Profile](https://www.ukspace.org/start-up-member/lodestar-space/)
5. [Resilience Media Interview](https://resiliencemedia.co/lodestar-is-building-satellite-bodyguards/)
6. [Greenhouse Careers Page](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/lodestarspace)

## Other roles at Lodestar

- [Software Engineer I or II: State Estimation & Prediction](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-i-or-ii-state-estimation-prediction-lodestar-los-angeles-x94pk8tr5jsg) — Los Angeles, CA
- [Software Engineer I,II,III: Simulations](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-i-ii-iii-simulations-lodestar-los-angeles-nqya82tma539) — Los Angeles, CA
- [Technical Proposal Writer](https://feeny.ai/job/technical-proposal-writer-lodestar-los-angeles-8m9d888rr3ft) — Los Angeles, CA
- [Director of Capture and Proposal Operations](https://feeny.ai/job/director-of-capture-and-proposal-operations-lodestar-los-angeles-81ha6p7n0ymq) — Los Angeles, CA
- [Avionics Hardware Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/avionics-hardware-engineer-lodestar-london-v88vfnycw44z) — London, United Kingdom
- [Avionics Software Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/avionics-software-engineer-lodestar-london-tnxkbb7w530b) — London, United Kingdom
- [Software Engineer II: On-board Autonomy](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-ii-on-board-autonomy-lodestar-los-angeles-ps92yzwddgz3) — Los Angeles, CA