# Atahan Çaldır

> Payload Software Engineer at Xona

Location: San Francisco Bay Area, United States
Profile: https://flows.cv/atahan

I am highly passionate about Robotics, Space, and AI. Hence, I am continuously expanding my knowledge in these domains. My greatest hobbies are traveling, reading books, drawing pictures and maps, learning new technologies, and making research on history.

Portfolio: https://atahancaldir.github.io/
GitHub: https://github.com/atahancaldir

## Work Experience
### Payload Software Engineer @ Xona
Jan 2025 – Present | San Francisco Bay Area
Working on Pulsar, a state-of-the-art satellite constellation to deliver the world's most secure precision positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) service from low Earth orbit (LEO).

-Developing low-level payload software for the spacecraft using C++ 17, including high efficiency custom libraries (IPC, message serialization/deserialization, batch logging, etc.), and embedded Linux applications for command & telemetry flow and HW management
-Managing the Influx interface and Grafana visualizations of the satellite payload via a version-controlled approach based on the payload software APIs
-Utilizing hardware data sheets and communicating with EE engineers when programming the HW/SW interface
-Improving ground station software and bus-payload software interface, along with the management of the ICD documentation
-Working with GitLab CI automations for building, testing, documenting, and deploying the payload software suite
-Working on EM, qualification, flight modules, and the FlatSat for software verification
-Operating and monitoring an in-orbit satellite when needed
- Interviewing candidates for related software engineering positions

### Software Engineer @ AST SpaceMobile
Jan 2023 – Jan 2024 | Midland, Texas, United States
Worked on the development and implementation of the BlueBird satellite constellation's software and electronic tests and all the automation processes as a solo developer in the spacecraft testing team. The aim of the LEO satellite constellation is to provide smartphones with space-based cellular broadband network without the need for external equipment.

-Worked on the launch campaign of the BlueBird block 1 satellites in SpaceX payload processing facility at Cape Canaveral, Florida
-Independently developed multi-threaded full-stack software for test equipment automation, test design, and satellite mass production tracking, utilized by hundreds of users across spacecraft test setups in the company’s facilities in the USA, Israel, Spain, and India. Leveraged TypeScript for web applications, Python for test scripts, C# for the desktop software suite, and SQL for database management
-Supported the production and troubleshooting of the unique software and hardware of the satellite components
-Managed 40+ test racks of the company headquarters at Midland, TX for functional, solar panel, thermal, OTA, and satellite compatibility tests
-Educated and guided operators to use test racks
-Collaborated with the company's international teams for the development and implementation of the new test software and hardware versions

### Undergraduate Research Assistant @ Özyeğin University
Jan 2021 – Jan 2022 | Istanbul, Turkey
Worked with Dr. Mehmet Özsoy and Dr. Ata Can Bertay on global cryptocurrency statistics to understand the socio-behavioral tendencies of each country toward altcoins.

### Research Intern @ University of Cambridge
Jan 2021 – Jan 2021 | Cambridge, England, United Kingdom
Worked in the Affective Intelligence and Robotics Lab under the supervision of Prof. Hatice Gunes and PhD students, Nikhil Churamani and Minja Axelsson on a human-robot interaction project where Continual (Lifelong) Learning is used for personalization of the users.

### Research Intern @ Özyeğin University
Jan 2021 – Jan 2021 | Istanbul, Turkey
Worked on a human-robot negotiation project under the supervision of Dr. Reyhan Aydoğan at Ozyegin University Interactive Intelligent Systems Lab and developed a unique negotiation agent called 'CodeX Agent'.
In this internship, I gained financial support from TUBITAK(The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) with the 'TUBITAK STAR Program' in which only 1500 students get the scholarship out of 12000+ students.

### Undergraduate Research Assistant @ Özyeğin University
Jan 2020 – Jan 2021 | Istanbul, Turkey
Worked with Dr. Mehmet Özsoy on applications of NLP in Economics.

### Technical Team Leader @ OzU Rover Team
Jan 2019 – Jan 2020 | Istanbul, Turkey
• Managed CS, EEE, ME division members to work collaboratively
• Recruited team members
• Member of Science Subteam of the team
• Member of PR & Sponsorship Division of the team

### Software Engineer @ OzU Rover Team
Jan 2018 – Jan 2020 | Istanbul, Turkey
OzU Rover Team is included in Özyeğin University's robotics laboratory and it is the first planetary rover team in Turkey to take place in international rover competitions. Undergraduate students develop different rovers every year for ERC(European Rover Challenge)(Poland) and URC(University Rover Challenge)(USA) competitions.


## Education
### Bachelor of Science - BS in Computer Science
Özyeğin University

### High School in Mathematics & Science
Dolapoğlu Anadolu High School


## Contact & Social
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/atahancaldir
- Portfolio: https://atahancaldir.github.io/

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Source: https://flows.cv/atahan
JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/atahan/resume.json
Last updated: 2026-04-10