Working Student, Space Operations

Working Student, Space Operations

Welcome to Planet. We believe in using space to help life on Earth.

Planet designs, builds, and operates the largest constellation of imaging satellites in history. This constellation delivers an unprecedented dataset of empirical information via a revolutionary cloud-based platform to authoritative figures in commercial, environmental, and humanitarian sectors. We are both a space company and data company all rolled into one.

Customers and users across the globe use Planet's data to develop new technologies, drive revenue, power research, and solve our world's toughest obstacles.

As we control every component of hardware design, manufacturing, data processing, and software engineering, our office is a truly inspiring mix of experts from a variety of domains.

We have a people-centric approach toward culture and community and we strive to iterate in a way that puts our team members first and prepares our company for growth. Join Planet and be a part of our mission to change the way people see the world.

Planet is a global company with employees working remotely worldwide and joining us from offices in San Francisco, Washington DC, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, and The Netherlands.

About the Role:

The Space Ops team is in charge of maintaining the largest constellation of Earth observation satellites; we ensure they are safe, healthy, and productive. We are a small team of highly-skilled engineers from offices in SF and Berlin and we are looking for a highly motivated and driven working student to join our team. As part of the Space Ops team, you will support day-to-day operations, which includes, making assessments based on data analysis, triaging and resolving anomalies, run on-orbit experiments, and testing and assisting in the rollout of software on the ground and in space.

With more than a hundred active satellites, the core of our operations is automation; you will be writing code to automate mission operations and aggregate data into metrics. The ideal candidate is eager to learn and collaborate, is results driven and is able to work in a fast-paced environment, while working independently and as part of a team. You will be working in a collaborative environment, frequently communicating with hardware and software experts to understand anomalies, develop procedures and further develop operations processes.

This is a part-time, hybrid role which will require you to work from our Berlin office 2 days per week.

Impact You'll Own:

• Develop and enhance existing tools to further automate operations
• Perform daily checks on the fleet
• Identify, triage, root cause and resolve satellite anomalies in space
• Develop and maintain scripts to aggregate satellite data and generate metrics
• Use existing and new metrics for data analysis to make assessments about the performance and health of the satellites
• Proactively improve existing processes of satellite operations
• Lead your own standalone projects to evolve the way we operate our satellites

What You Bring:

• Ongoing B.S or M.S Degree in an Engineering, Software, or Science related field
• Software development experience in Python or equivalent
• Passion for space technology and its applications
• Initiative and the ability to tackle unique challenges
• Familiarity with statistical analysis and data-driven development
• Experience with data visualization
• Excellent communication skills and a willingness to collaborate across teams

What Makes You Stand Out:

• Familiarity with automation and software development tools ( e.g., Jenkins, Bash, and Git)
• Understanding of DevOps and CI/CD concepts
• Experience working with large amounts of data and APIs
• Understanding of space environment and space operations
• Understanding of and motivation to work in a dynamic environment

Application Deadline: May 17, 2026 by 11:59p / 23:59 CET (Central European Time)

Benefits While Working at Planet: These offerings are dependent on employment type and geographical location, based upon applicable law or company policy.

• Generous time off including vacation, holidays and company global days off
• Comprehensive Leave Policies
• Employee Wellness Program
• Home Office Reimbursement
• Monthly benefit to choose from a variety of providers (Urban Sports Club, Groceries, Clothes, Entertainment, Transportation...)*
• Monthly Phone and Internet Reimbursement
• Access to LinkedIn Learning
• Volunteering Benefits

Why we care so much about Belonging. We're dedicated to helping the whole Planet, and to do that we must strive to represent all of it within each of our offices and on all of our teams. That's why Planet is guided by an ultimate north star of Belonging—dreaming big as we approach our ongoing work. If this job intrigues you, but you're thinking you might not have all the qualifications, please... do apply! At Planet, we are looking for well-rounded people from around the world who can contribute to more ways than just what is listed in this job description. We don't just fill positions, we aspire to fulfill people's careers, most excited about folks who are motivated by our underlying humanitarian efforts. We are a few orbits around the sun before we get to where we want to be, so we hope you're excited to come along for the ride.