Senior RF Hardware Engineer Verified today
About the Team
The Avionics team designs, builds, tests, installs, and operates the hardware that connects and controls every major electrical system on Terran R and ground infrastructure. Engineers work closely with propulsion, GNC, fluids, and stage teams to ensure seamless integration and rapid iteration.
About the Role
You will own the development, test, and integration of GPS-based navigation system avionics for the Terran R launch vehicle. You are responsible for critical sensory infrastructure that enables landing, recovery, and reuse of the booster stage.
Your responsibilities include:
- Develop and qualify GPS navigation systems used within Terran R
- Conduct architectural trades with cross-functional partner teams
- Develop acceptance and qualification test plans
- Provide technical guidance across the vehicle's RF architecture, including telemetry downlinks, command uplinks, and antenna system deployment
- Mentor hardware engineers on RF design fundamentals and review design analyses
- Support architectural trades to ensure RF systems work cohesively from design through operations
About You
- Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field
- 5+ years of experience in electronics designed for harsh environments and mission-critical applications such as launch vehicles, spacecraft, aircraft, or robotics
- Experience with hardware bring-up, validation, debugging, and data analysis
- Experience working with highly cross-functional teams (GNC, mechanical, electrical, software) to develop integrated electronics solutions
- Deep understanding of RF system fundamentals including impedance matching and transmission line theory, link budget analysis and RF propagation effects, and antenna theory (gain, beamwidth, polarization, radiation patterns)
Nice to Have
- In-depth knowledge of GNSS receiver systems including PVT calculation, satellite tracking and acquisition, error sources, and RF front-end architecture
- Understanding of RF communication systems including modulation schemes (FSK, PSK, OQPSK, SOQPSK), channel coding, and bit error rate analysis
- Experience combining data from various navigation sensors (GPS, IMU, magnetometers, altimeters, LiDAR) to achieve robust and accurate navigation solutions
- Experience with high-speed serial interfaces (SPI, PCIe, Ethernet); memory interfaces; design for SoCs, microcontrollers, and microprocessors
Compensation and Benefits
Hiring range: $148,000 to $222,000 USD. Relativity Space offers competitive salary and equity, generous PTO and sick leave, parental leave, and an annual learning and development stipend.