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.

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 Operations team is crucial to Planet's success, responsible for maintaining and optimizing the health and productivity of the world's largest Earth Observation satellite constellation. Our team spans North America and Berlin. Given the scale of our fleet, automation is at the heart of our operations. You'll develop and maintain critical software, transforming large datasets into actionable metrics.

As a Working Student, you'll support daily satellite operations, analyze data, triage and resolve anomalies, run on-orbit experiments, test and deploy software both on the ground and in orbit, and commission satellites. You'll work closely with hardware and software experts across teams to debug anomalies, enhance or create services, and provide operational insights to shape our next-generation satellites.

We are looking for a data-driven self-starter with effective communication skills that collaborates well within a technical team and adapts quickly to changing tasks and contexts.

This part-time, hybrid role is based at our Berlin office with an expectation of at least two in-office days per week.

Impact You'll Own:

• Develop and maintain real-time, mission-critical software solutions for satellite operations
• Write scripts to aggregate satellite data and generate system monitoring metrics
• Analyze data to identify issues and inefficiencies in the full stack of services and propose solutions to improve productivity
• Drive improvements to fleet capacity and productivity through process enhancements
• Monitor satellite health and perform on-orbit experiments

What You Bring:

• (Ongoing) BSc in engineering or computer science
• Proficiency in software development, particularly in Python or equivalent languages
• Data-driven mindset with experience in statistical analysis
• Proactive, self-starter approach to engineering and problem-solving
• Effective interpersonal and collaboration skills within a technical team

What Makes You Stand Out:

• Experience with agile software development
• Experience with DevOps tools and practices (e.g., Git, GitLab, Docker, Jenkins, Bash, Linux, CI/CD, Sentry, Datadog)
• Familiarity with satellite engineering and/or the space environment and its challenges
• Hands-on experience operating spacecraft or remote systems
• Familiarity with automation and optimization tools
• Contributions to open-source software projects

Application Deadline:

May 2, 2026 by 23:59 CET (Central European Time)

Benefits While Working at Planet:

• 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.