Software Development Engineer III – MAC Control Plane – TeraWave

About this role

Application close date: Applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis until the requisition is closed. At Blue Origin, we envision millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth. We’re working to develop reusable, safe, and low-cost space vehicles and systems within a culture of safety, collaboration, and inclusion. Join our team of problem solvers as we add new chapters to the history of spaceflight!   

Blue Origin is pioneering the future of space-based communications with TeraWave, a revolutionary satellite communications network designed to deliver symmetrical data speeds of up to 6 Tbps anywhere on Earth. This multi-orbit constellation will consist of optically interconnected satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) and medium Earth orbit (MEO), providing enterprise-grade connectivity for critical operations worldwide.

As a Software Development Engineer III on the TeraWave Software and Networking Team, you design, implement, and test control-plane software for a custom Media Access Control (MAC) layer supporting Blue Origin's TeraWave network.

The MAC control plane governs radio-resource allocation, link establishment, scheduling, quality of service, link adaptation, and mobility across dynamic satellite-to-ground connections. You contribute to purpose-built MAC protocols and control mechanisms that address the scale, propagation characteristics, mobility, and availability requirements of the TeraWave architecture.

You work closely with senior software engineers and engineers across the PHY, modem, networking, platform, and systems teams to develop a high-throughput, predictable-latency wireless stack designed specifically for space-based communications.

Responsibilities • Design, implement, and test MAC control-plane software for point-to-point and point-to-multipoint satellite communication links.

• Develop components of TDMA, demand-assigned multiple access, admission-control, scheduling, and radio-resource-allocation systems.

• Implement protocol state machines for link establishment, maintenance, reconfiguration, teardown, fault recovery, and transitions between beams, satellites, and gateways.

• Develop MAC control logic for QoS enforcement, traffic prioritization, flow control, retransmission, and coordinated link adaptation.

• Integrate MAC control-plane software with PHY implementations, modem hardware, networking data planes, telemetry systems, and hardware-accelerated MAC functions.

• Build simulation, test, and performance-analysis tools to validate protocol behavior under mobility, fading, congestion, timing variation, and failure scenarios.

• Diagnose software, protocol, timing, and system-integration issues using logs, telemetry, packet captures, simulations, and hardware test environments.

• Deliver MAC control-plane features through design, implementation, code review, hardware integration, system qualification, and operational deployment.

Basic Qualifications • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related technical field.

• Four or more years of software-development experience in wireless networking, communication systems, embedded systems, or high-performance networking.

• Proficiency in C or C++ with concurrent or timing-sensitive software in Linux, real-time Linux, or RTOS environments.

• Experience implementing communication protocols, protocol state machines, resource schedulers, flow-control mechanisms, or QoS systems.

• Experience developing and debugging software that interfaces with hardware, embedded platforms, networking systems, or communication devices.

Preferred Qualifications • Experience developing MAC or link-layer software for satellite, non-terrestrial, cellular, fixed wireless, or other communication platforms.

• Knowledge of TDMA, DAMA, OFDMA, radio-resource management, adaptive modulation and coding, ARQ or HARQ, admission control, or QoS scheduling.

• Experience integrating software with PHY implementations, FPGAs, DSPs, modems, or custom SoCs.

• Experience with multithreaded, asynchronous, or event-driven software architectures.

• Experience with simulation and analysis environments such as ns-3, MATLAB, Python, or custom discrete-event simulators.

• Experience with high-performance packet-processing technologies such as DPDK, VPP, eBPF, or hardware packet-processing engines.

• Experience developing systems that operate under variable latency, constrained bandwidth, partial connectivity, or rapidly changing network conditions.

  Base Pay Range for: CA applicants is $207,416.00 - $290,381.70
WA applicants is $207,416.00 - $290,381.70 Other site ranges may differ

Culture Statement Don’t meet all desired requirements? Studies have shown that some people are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single desired qualification. At Blue Origin, we are dedicated to building an authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every desired qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Export Control Regulations Applicants for employment at Blue Origin must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (i.e. current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum.

Background Check • Required for all positions: Blue’s Standard Background Check • Required for Certain Job Profiles:  Defense Biometric Identification System (DBIDS) background check if at any time the role requires one to be on a military installation • Required for Certain Job Profiles: Drivers who operate Commercial Motor Vehicles with a Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW), Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) or combination of power unit and trailer that meets or exceeds 10,001 lbs. and/or transports placardable amounts of hazardous materials by ground in any vehicle on a public road whi

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