The posting
We're building the hardware and software that safeguards space. We're always looking for talented engineers, developers, designers, and operators who want to work on problems that matter. If you bring experience, curiosity, and a drive to push boundaries, we'd love to hear from you. Submit your CV.
About Us
Our mission is to safeguard critical space infrastructure by providing the first integrated security platform to see threats, decide fast and respond at scale. Where spacecraft have traditionally been costly, slow to produce and require extensive effort to coordinate, SMC is developing systems that are produced at scale and operated with human-on-the-loop autonomy to drastically reduce the cost and complexity of orbital operations.
As space becomes more congested and contested, the satellites that underpin modern life, including communications, navigation, financial systems, are increasingly exposed. We are developing the vehicles and software to protect them, working with commercial operators and government agencies across allied nations.
Our approach is grounded in economics as much as engineering. The Optimus Viper Rapid Response Vehicle delivers genuine mission capability at a fraction of conventional spacecraft cost, designed for high-volume production and rapid deployment across all orbital regimes. Solstice OS, our AI-driven command and control platform, fuses space domain awareness data and automates mission planning and vehicle coordination, allowing smaller teams to manage larger constellations and respond to emerging situations in seconds rather than hours.
The future of space depends on assets that can be inspected, monitored and protected in orbit. We are building the technology to make that possible.
Why Join Us
We are early. That means the problems are real, the pace is high, and the decisions you make will be visible in the product.
This is not a role where you spend two years on a subsystem before seeing it fly. At SMC, the development cycles are short, the team is small, and the work is genuinely novel. There is opportunity here to learn fast and contribute to something that has not been done before.
If that sounds like the environment where you do your best work, we would like to hear from you.
How We Work
We are builders first.
Every challenge moves through the same cycle: design, build, test, refine. We make things real quickly, learn from what we find, and improve with each iteration.
We question assumptions early, strengthen solutions through collaboration, and apply process where it adds value rather than where it adds comfort. There are a lot of firsts at SMC. We meet them with curiosity and a willingness to be wrong on the way to being right.
We win as one team.
Life at SMC
Growth & Impact
As a fast-growing company at the frontier of space technology, there is no shortage of challenging problems and opportunities to grow your career.
We encourage and support our team to publish papers and present at conferences.
Once in a lifetime chance to see something you designed and built being launched into space!
Meaningful Work
Every day, you will contribute to technology that enables new possibilities in space as we drastically reduce the cost and complexity of orbital operations.
We build and test real hardware (not just simulations) and our access to test facilities allows fast iteration cycles.
Real ownership stake in the company through an employee stock option program, so that when we win, you win.
Small Team, Global Reach
Our team spans Australia, India, and the United States, bringing together world-class talent from a range of industries, with diverse perspectives and expertise.
Yet we're small and nimble enough for outsized individual contribution, visibility and ownership.
We work at startup pace, embracing innovation and collaboration to bring the benefit of real flight heritage to Australia's growing sovereign space capability.
How Space Machinists Work
We have a flat hierarchy and ensure ideas are always welcomed, regardless of seniority.
Space Machinists collaborate with and receive mentorship from experienced industry leads, internally and at our partner organisations.
Our multidisciplinary team come from a diverse range of backgrounds (engineers, scientists, business) and are passionate about knowledge sharing, recognising that innovation can often come from unconventional sources.
