Intern, Software Engineering, 2027

Current energy and data systems rely on complex logistics and outdated infrastructure. Cowboy Space Corporation overcomes these challenges by enabling direct, on-demand, secure, and scalable energy distribution and data processing from space. This will revolutionize how we operate in orbit and on Earth, supporting the rapidly expanding space industrial base, ISAM (In-Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing) operations, remote regions, and military bases.

Baiju Bhatt founded Cowboy Space Corporation in 2024. Inspired by his father's work with NASA Langley Research Center, Baiju earned his B.S. in Physics and M.S. in Mathematics at Stanford before co-founding Robinhood, now a public company that has helped over 20 million Americans access the financial system. Cowboy Space Corporation has raised ~$365 million from Index Ventures, Interlagos, Construct Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, NEA, and others.

Responsibilities

• Design, development, and testing of software across flight, embedded, and ground systems, including avionics, guidance/navigation/control, and satellite bus/payload software
• Build and maintain software for signal processing, RF/optical communication pipelines, and on-orbit compute infrastructure (GPU/TPU clusters)
• Develop tooling and services for mission operations, telemetry/command infrastructure, and satellite health monitoring
• Write, test, and debug code across the stack — from low-level embedded/real-time systems to higher-level ground and data systems
• Collaborate with hardware, electrical, and systems engineering teams to define interfaces, debug integration issues, and validate end-to-end system behavior
• Build simulation, test, and hardware-in-the-loop frameworks to validate software against spacecraft requirements
• Participate in code reviews, write technical documentation, and contribute to engineering best practices as the team and codebase scale

Basic Qualifications

• Currently enrolled as an undergraduate or graduate student in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related STEM field
• Strong fundamentals in software engineering: data structures, algorithms, and computer architecture
• Proficiency in at least one systems or general-purpose programming language (C, C++, Python, or similar)
• Collaborative, self-directed work style; comfort with ambiguity and learning quickly

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with embedded or real-time systems programming (RTOS, bare-metal, or similar constrained environments)
• Exposure to signal processing, hardware description languages (VHDL/Verilog), or FPGA-based development
• Familiarity with flight software frameworks (e.g., cFS, F Prime) or spacecraft software architectures
• Experience with version control, CI/CD pipelines, and automated testing frameworks
• Prior internship, coursework, or personal project experience involving robotics, satellites, avionics, or other hardware-adjacent software
• Comfort debugging across the hardware/software boundary, including use of tools like oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, or debuggers

Compensation

(Quarter-long internship) — Paid $1,800 weekly

• Daily lunch in the office and a fully stocked kitchen with beverages and snacks

ITAR Requirements

• Export Control Requirement: To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), applicants 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 ITAR here.