About Apolink:
Apolink is building the world’s most interoperable satellite relay network in low Earth orbit. Our hybrid communication architecture combines RF and optical inter-satellite links to enable real-time, continuous connectivity for satellite operators across industries.
About The Role:
We hire interns in paid positions year round. Given that this is a small team, you will be very hands on. Depending on your role, you may be doing anything from assembling our satellites in the cleanroom to negotiating contracts with our customers to calculating our constellation spacing. We don't believe in intern projects, you will be working on mission critical tasks alongside seasoned engineers and professionals.
We offer catered meal credits whenever you are working in office.
Additional Information
To conform to the U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you 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.
Apolink Communications is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.
","descriptionPlain":"About Apolink:\n\nApolink is building the world’s most interoperable satellite relay network in low Earth orbit. Our hybrid communication architecture combines RF and optical inter-satellite links to enable real-time, continuous connectivity for satellite operators across industries.\n\n\n\nAbout The Role: \n\nWe hire interns in paid positions year round. Given that this is a small team, you will be very hands on. Depending on your role, you may be doing anything from assembling our satellites in the cleanroom to negotiating contracts with our customers to calculating our constellation spacing. We don't believe in intern projects, you will be working on mission critical tasks alongside seasoned engineers and professionals. \n\nWe offer catered meal credits whenever you are working in office. \n\n\n\nAdditional Information\n\nTo conform to the U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you 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.\n\n\n\nApolink Communications is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.\n\n","compensation":{"compensationTierSummary":null,"scrapeableCompensationSalarySummary":null,"compensationTiers":[],"summaryComponents":[]}},{"id":"ccd5138d-3ee3-4cea-9bed-2e02664a36fe","title":"General Application ","department":"General","team":"General","employmentType":"FullTime","location":"Palo Alto","shouldDisplayCompensationOnJobPostings":false,"secondaryLocations":[],"publishedAt":"2025-07-11T03:09:11.840+00:00","isListed":true,"isRemote":false,"workplaceType":"OnSite","address":{"postalAddress":{"addressRegion":"California","addressCountry":"United States","addressLocality":"Palo Alto"}},"jobUrl":"https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/apolink/ccd5138d-3ee3-4cea-9bed-2e02664a36fe","applyUrl":"https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/apolink/ccd5138d-3ee3-4cea-9bed-2e02664a36fe/application","descriptionHtml":"About Apolink:
Apolink is building the world’s most interoperable satellite relay network in low Earth orbit. Our hybrid communication architecture combines RF and optical inter-satellite links to enable real-time, continuous connectivity for satellite operators across industries.
About The Role:
Don't see a job that fits your skills? Submit your application here. We are always looking for talented people who are just as excited about space lasers and radios as we are. You may just be the perfect person we don't know we need yet!
Compensation and Benefits
Compensation at Apolink is determined based on role, level, location, and alignment with market benchmarks. Individual base salary is assessed on a case-by-case basis, reflecting job-related experience, technical expertise, and overall fit. In addition to salary, Apolink offers long-term incentives such as stock options and discretionary performance bonuses. Benefits include equity participation, comprehensive health care, 401(k) with company matching, flexible vacation, catered meal credits, and ongoing opportunities for professional development.
Additional Information
To conform to the U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you 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.
Apolink Communications is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.
","descriptionPlain":"About Apolink:\n\nApolink is building the world’s most interoperable satellite relay network in low Earth orbit. Our hybrid communication architecture combines RF and optical inter-satellite links to enable real-time, continuous connectivity for satellite operators across industries.\n\n\n\nAbout The Role:\n\nDon't see a job that fits your skills? Submit your application here. We are always looking for talented people who are just as excited about space lasers and radios as we are. You may just be the perfect person we don't know we need yet!\n\n\n\nCompensation and Benefits\n\nCompensation at Apolink is determined based on role, level, location, and alignment with market benchmarks. Individual base salary is assessed on a case-by-case basis, reflecting job-related experience, technical expertise, and overall fit. In addition to salary, Apolink offers long-term incentives such as stock options and discretionary performance bonuses. Benefits include equity participation, comprehensive health care, 401(k) with company matching, flexible vacation, catered meal credits, and ongoing opportunities for professional development.\n\n\n\nAdditional Information\n\nTo conform to the U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you 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.\n\n\n\nApolink Communications is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.\n\n\n\n\n\n","compensation":{"compensationTierSummary":null,"scrapeableCompensationSalarySummary":null,"compensationTiers":[],"summaryComponents":[]}},{"id":"338eca04-03cb-4a53-9053-650d17031651","title":"Chief Engineer (Optical Comms)","department":"Engineering","team":"Engineering","employmentType":"FullTime","location":"Palo Alto","shouldDisplayCompensationOnJobPostings":false,"secondaryLocations":[],"publishedAt":"2026-09-19T00:27:02.585+00:00","isListed":true,"isRemote":false,"workplaceType":"OnSite","address":{"postalAddress":{"addressRegion":"California","addressCountry":"United States","addressLocality":"Palo Alto"}},"jobUrl":"https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/apolink/338eca04-03cb-4a53-9053-650d17031651","applyUrl":"https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/apolink/338eca04-03cb-4a53-9053-650d17031651/application","descriptionHtml":"About Apolink
Apolink is building the first-ever backward-compatible data relay constellation in low Earth orbit. By enabling efficient data aggregation and relay through our hybrid RF-optical inter-satellite link (ISL) architecture, we support scalable and resilient space infrastructure across commercial, federal, and defense applications.
About The Role:
The Chief Engineer (Optical) is the company’s technical lead for optical communications across our LEO data relay constellation. They own the optical architecture, requirements, link design, and verification, and lead technical decisions with our optical terminal vendor. The vendor handles terminal manufacturing, while this role remains hands-on with analysis, integration, and testing. This is a sole-contributor leadership role.
Responsibilities:
Own optical ISL and feeder-link architecture: wavelength plan, modulation and coding, aperture and divergence sizing, data rate vs range tradespace.
Develop and maintain end-to-end optical link budgets, including coherent receiver sensitivity, PAT margin, platform jitter, point-ahead, Doppler, stray light, fade statistics, and BER against realistic FEC.
Author optical requirements and ICDs, and manage flowdown to the vendor and to internal bus, flight software, and ground teams.
Direct the vendor technically: down-select, diligence, SOW and NRE scoping, design review participation, and accountability for performance and schedule.
Adjudicate R&D direction with the vendor; what warrants NRE investment, what is technically unviable, what we buy versus co-develop.
May lead a ZR-800G-class coherent transceiver NRE with the optical terminal.
Maintain compliance with applicable standards, including CCSDS O3K and SDA OCT where relevant to federal programs.
Qualifications:
Direct, hands-on experience with LEO-LEO optical inter-satellite links: designing, building, or verifying crosslink terminals between spacecraft in low Earth orbit.
6+ years in free-space optical communications, coherent optical transport, or spaceborne photonics.
MS or PhD in optics, EE, or physics, or equivalent demonstrated depth.
Demonstrated experience directing vendor technical performance and NRE programs.
Capacity to exercise independent technical judgment as the sole optical authority and be accountable for it.
Preferred:
Direct experience with 400ZR, 800ZR, OpenZR+, or OIF coherent pluggables.
Flight heritage on an optical comms payload.
Benefits:
Competitive salary and benefits package
Meaningful early-stage equity
Opportunity to own optical for a constellation end to end
Medical, dental, vision, 401(k), relocation assistance
Salary: $180,000-$220,000
Additional Information
To conform to the U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you 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.
Apolink is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.
About Apolink
Apolink is building the first-ever backward-compatible data relay constellation in low Earth orbit. By enabling efficient data aggregation and relay through our hybrid RF-optical inter-satellite link (ISL) architecture, we support scalable and resilient space infrastructure across commercial, federal, and defense applications.
About The Role
In this role, you'll design the constellation, verify RAAN and phasing, and run the coverage analysis that shows which architectures meet customer SLAs. You'll also build the propulsion and Δv budgets for deployment, station-keeping, collision avoidance, and de-orbit. This starts with our upcoming paired demonstration satellite mission and scales to the full LEO relay constellation. You'll work directly with the bus, propulsion, and optical/RF link teams and turn orbital analysis into hardware and mission requirements. The role is hands-on end to end: modeling, trade studies, maneuver planning, and on-orbit operations.
Responsibilities:
Design and own constellation architecture: plane count, altitude, inclination, LTAN, and intra- and inter-plane phasing, traded against coverage, launch cost, and ISL geometry
Run SLA-grade coverage analysis on link-closing access: handover continuity, window durations, gap statistics, and percent-time-covered for specific target orbits.
Work with the RF team to close coverage and access analysis against real RF link budgets rather than geometric visibility alone. This means computing access windows only where range, elevation, off-boresight angle, Doppler, and slant-path losses support the required data rate and margin.
Model ISL relative geometry between constellation members and customer spacecraft, including range, angular constraints, and handover timing. Iterate with the RF and optical teams so orbit design and link design converge.
Develop Δv and propellant budgets for drag makeup across the solar cycle, station-keeping, collision avoidance, and end-of-life disposal. Provide thruster and propellant sizing inputs to the bus team.
Build and maintain the orbit determination, ephemeris, and maneuver-planning pipeline. Own conjunction screening and CDM response through Space-Track and commercial SSA providers.
Provide orbital parameters and deorbit analysis for the commercial FCC and ITU filings.
Qualifications:
Direct, hands-on experience with LEO mission or constellation design: orbit selection, SSO design, and station-keeping for flown or flight-bound spacecraft.
4+ years in applied astrodynamics, mission design, or flight dynamics.
BS/MS/PhD in aerospace engineering, astrodynamics, or physics, or equivalent demonstrated depth.
Proficiency with at least one of GMAT, STK/ODTK, FreeFlyer, Orekit, Tudat, or Basilisk, and strong Python.
Solid perturbation modeling: J2 and higher-order gravity, atmospheric drag (NRLMSISE-00, JB2008), and SRP.
Capacity to exercise independent technical judgment as the orbital authority and be accountable for it.
Preferred:
Constellation, formation-flying, or relative-motion experience.
Flight dynamics operations experience, including maneuver execution, OD, and conjunction response.
Experience planning electric or cold-gas propulsion maneuvers.
Benefits:
Competitive salary and benefits package
Meaningful early-stage equity
Opportunity to own optical for a constellation end to end
Medical, dental, vision, 401(k), relocation assistance
Salary: $150,000-$190,000
Additional Information
To conform to the U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you 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.
Apolink Communications is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.