Petrichor Labs Spacecraft Engineering Consulting

Embedded flight software and avionics engineering

We specialize in the space industry, and can expand to any industry for embedded systems work, with specific interest in IoT sensor networks. Available for consulting and contract hire. For our Terms Sheet, contact Thomas on LinkedIn.

Services

Embedded flight software and avionics engineering services for spacecraft and related systems, which may include but are not limited to:

Flight software

  • Embedded and flight software product ownership
  • Flight software architecture and design
  • Real-time embedded C/C++ development
  • Bare-metal and RTOS-based firmware
  • Greenfield projects, starting from scratch
  • Device drivers (communication, sensors, actuators, payloads, etc.)
  • Guidance, Navigation & Control (GNC) algorithm and software integration
  • Fault detection, isolation, and recovery (FDIR)
  • Command and telemetry interfaces following industry conventions
  • Expertise on Rocket Lab's MAX FSW, familiarity with other frameworks

Hardware and avionics

  • Electrical schematic design, PCB layout, component sourcing, and PCB assembly (Altium Designer)
  • Hardware bring-up and testing
  • Board bring-up and debugging

Verification and operations

  • Testable software requirements, traced through code to releases
  • Unit tests derived from requirements
  • Simulation (e.g., Renode) and HIL/SIL testing, automated in CI
  • Telemetry storage and visualization for test and analysis
  • Code reviews, documentation, and design reviews
  • On-orbit operations support and anomaly resolution

Tooling and process

  • Existing codebase modernization, static analysis implementation, and quality improvement
  • Coding standards with automated formatting and checks
  • Version control and ticket system stand-up and management
  • CI/CD pipelines for build, test, analysis, and release
  • Reproducible builds (CMake, Bazel, Docker) and cross-compilation toolchains
  • Versioned build artifacts and release management
  • Adoption of agentic AI for increased productivity and code quality

How we work

Available for consulting and contract hire.

Part of your team

We integrate directly into your team, working in your tools, meetings, code reviews, and chat like any other engineer, for seamless teamwork. Most of a client's team members never realize they're working with a contractor.

Remote, with travel as needed

Work is performed remotely, with occasional on-site travel as needed.

Hardware in the loop

Bench-top tools to host hardware for hardware-in-the-loop development and testing, scriptable power control for automated test runs, and a setup for basic circuit assembly and rework.

Clear and thorough

Detail-oriented work, thorough documentation, and clear communication.