Iridium Orbit Program
The Iridium® Orbit Program provides elite engineering candidates the opportunity to embed with three teams over 18 months. Upon completion, program candidates are matched with the team that best suits their educational backgrounds, skillsets, and interests.
You’ll spend six-month rotations with three of the following teams in Arizona and Virginia:
- Satellite Operations
- Space Engineering
- Product Engineering
- Integration & Test
- Gateway Operations
- Space & Ground Engineering
- Product Integration & Certification
About The Teams
Learn what your future colleagues are doing every day to support truly global satellite connectivity.
Satellite Operations | Satellite Network Operations Center | Leesburg, VA
This Satellite Operations team performs real-time operation, monitoring, and command and control of the Iridium constellation and ground system, including execution of planned activities and recovering from anomalies, as well as orbit determination, mission planning and collision-avoidance functions.
Hear from Engineer Corey Person about his role at Iridium:
Space Engineering | Satellite Network Operations Center | Leesburg, VA
Iridium satellites operate through subsystems such as power, attitude control, thermal, and communications. The Space Engineering team’s subsystem experts respond to satellite issues as well as develop software features that improve satellite performance, safety, and maintainability.
Product Engineering | Iridium Headquarters | McLean, VA
Iridium designs and develops transceivers that enable users to connect to the Iridium satellite constellation. The Product Engineering team is responsible for the transceiver life cycle, from requirements, design, and test to production and sustainment. Team members build and maintain test and production systems, software tools, developer kits, and documentation.
Hear from Sales Engineer Erick Terrazas about his role at Iridium:
Integration & Test | Technical Support Center | Chandler, AZ
Iridium space and ground systems are constantly evolving. The Integration and Test team ensures all system changes are vetted before operational deployment by testing software and/or hardware changes in a lab environment. The team interacts with high-fidelity simulators as well as hardware-in-the-loop testing using satellite engineering models.
Hear from Engineer Keely (Thompson) Greger about her role at Iridium:
Gateway Operations | Primary Gateway | Tempe, AZ
The Gateway hosts the critical infrastructure that maintains all Iridium services. The Gateway Ops team monitors system and service health in a 24/7/365 environment and responds to any anomalies. They also execute system and network preventive maintenance procedures and implement system upgrades, updates, and configuration changes to minimize service disruption.
Space & Ground Engineering | Technical Support Center | Chandler, AZ
Iridium creates and maintains the software aboard Iridium satellites, along with ground software used for satellite command and telemetry. The Space and Ground Engineering team oversees the entire software lifecycle, including requirements, design, testing, production, and support. Team members also develop and manage environments, tools, and documentation essential for effective software operations.
Hear from Software Engineer Mali Vander Leest about her role at Iridium:
Product Integration & Certification | Iridium Headquarters | McLean, VA
The team is crucial in supporting partner product development for the Iridium network, assisting with onboarding, certification guidance, and ensuring product standards through design reviews and testing. Their application engineering area offers technical support through a service desk, addressing partner inquiries during product development. They also provide real-time customer service engineering support and engage in alpha and beta trials to refine products and services.
Hear from Associate Director, Product Engineering and Certification Omid Nia about his role at Iridium:
What We're Looking For
If you’re passionate about the space industry, get ready for an exciting opportunity with the Iridium Orbit Program! Over 18 months, you’ll dive into diverse roles across satellite operations, space engineering, product engineering, and more. Collaborate with three different teams and discover your perfect fit in engineering before carving out your career path at Iridium. Your adventure awaits!
Relocation
Program participation requires temporary relocation between our Arizona and Virginia facilities for three six-month rotations.
