Satellite Verification & Validation Engineer

In this role you will become an integral part of Aerospacelab’s V&V team as a Satellite V&V engineer, with the responsibility of being the V&V lead on a variety of space missions and taking charge of daily V&V Megafactory operations in Charleroi.

As a V&V mission lead, you will be fully responsible to coordinate the functional V&V activities of specific space missions. This includes the planning, preparation and execution of V&V campaigns which are performed on representative avionics test benches, as well as on the satellite flight models that will eventually be launched into space. Through scripts and our test management system, you will interact with the satellite or equivalent test setups to verify and validate their design and good workmanship.

In a short timeline, you will have the opportunity to get in touch with the different verification phases of a satellite’s lifecycle (from conception to post-launch). Throughout these campaigns, you will increase your understanding of how the satellite works internally (both flight software & hardware units related to the different satellite subsystems), as well as in the context of its operational usage. A large focus of the mission leading is on the payload-specific tests for the mission you are involved with. You will participate in the launch campaign of the satellite, with satellite preparation & configuration activities on the launcher’s site. After launch, you will be responsible for validating new flight software updates, in close collaboration with the flight software team and mission manager.

In this role, you are also responsible for planning and execution of the daily V&V operations within the Megafactory on satellite constellations, with a continuous contribution to efficiency and automation improvements in the daily way of working.

If you are motivated to explore the combination of V&V mission leading and Megafactory operations within the context of pragmatic & quality-focused satellite V&V… this position is for you. 

• • Become responsible for functional verification & validation activities for multiple satellite projects, at subsystem/system/mission level:
• • o Writing and maintaining system test specifications & test plans, based on the requirements of the project, in close collaboration with the mission’s systems engineer, project manager and subsystem experts. Strong focus on payload V&V.
  • o Develop & execute scripts, based on the test specifications.
  • o Manage the mission’s test setups (consisting of spacecraft units, test equipment, support equipment, …), either in ISO clean rooms or our test laboratories.
  • o Collect & analyse the data after execution, in close collaboration with the systems engineer, subsystem experts or the product owners of individual spacecraft units. Report in detail on the test results & contribute to the post-analysis. Generate & follow up on potential problem reports (non-conformances); assist in finding the root cause, solution/mitigation and lessons learned for the future.
• • Take the lead on all V&V operations planning & execution in Megafactory, including flatsat & flight model testing on a variety of satellite missions (including constellations).
• • Support the test infrastructure manager in:
• • o Managing the avionics test benches (“flatsats”, each representing a mission) and flight model setups: ensuring maximal availability, proper configuration, support & coordination of their usage over multiple teams in the company.
  • o Following up on procuring spacecraft H/W units, specialized test equipment, IT infrastructure, etc. Continuously proposing overall infrastructure improvements (whether SW or HW).
  • o Managing the flatsat user system that tracks configurations, health status, automatically warns for issues, etc. Anticipating and collecting flatsat user needs & new requested features.
• • Contribute to our brainstorming sessions, knowledge base improvements, knowledge sharing sessions & internal processes improvements.
• • Continuously look for opportunities and the means to increase the team’s efficiency.

• • High on-site availability in Aerospacelab’s Megafactory for day-to-day follow-up on V&V operations.
• • Experience with functional or electrical AITV activities; space software engineering (flight and/or ground) or satellite systems engineering is a bonus.
• • Comfortable with handling sensitive space-qualified units, as well as test equipment such as oscilloscopes, multimeters, spectrum analysers, base band equipment, et cetera. In case of no experience, willing to learn how to operate them.
• • Eye for detail and high-quality standards, “hands-on” & proactive profile.
• • Good communication, coordination skills. Very structured way of working.
• • Good satellite system-level thinking, basic to good understanding of the major subsystems of a satellite and how they interact with each other.
• • Very proactive in looking for efficiency improvements & solutions to problems.
• • Demonstrated ability to work autonomously across teams to help bring multi-disciplinary projects to completion.
• • Experience with reading & preparing detailed and complex technical documentation.
• • Fluency in English, both written and verbal.
• • Bachelor, Master or PhD degree in Aerospace Engineering, Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electromechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or a related field.

• • Experience working in ISO clean rooms.
• • Experience working with QMS systems, in quality assurance activities, etc.
• • Experience working with programming languages; specifically for backend (Python, Java, C, C++, etc.), frontend (TypeScript, JavaScript, etc.) or script programming and debugging (Python, JavaScript, Tcl, etc.).
• • Experience with Raspberry Pi’s or equivalent.
• • Basic knowledge of electrical systems.
• • Knowledge of the ECSS standards relating to testing, verification, systems engineering, quality, SW.