FPGA Engineer · Space Systems

Caroline
Hagen

Building the hardware brains of spacecraft. I design FPGA logic for satellites and launch vehicles — from geostationary broadband to orbital rockets — and I'm endlessly fascinated by the machines we send to space.

View My Work LinkedIn ↗
Scroll
About

Who I Am

I'm a hardware engineer specializing in FPGA design for space systems, currently at Astranis Space Technologies building satellites for high orbits. My work lives at the intersection of digital logic, embedded systems, and the extreme demands of the space environment.

Before Astranis, I spent a year at Blue Origin as an FPGA Engineer on the Lunar Permanence program, and before that at Intellian Technologies designing logic for satellite communications systems. My career started at Cobham Advanced Electronic Solutions (now Honeywell) in defense electronics.

I earned my B.S. in Electrical & Computer Engineering from Temple University and am now pursuing my M.S. in Computer Engineering at Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering (GPA: 4.0). When I'm not synthesizing RTL or debugging timing violations, I'm thinking about how reconfigurable hardware will define the next era of space infrastructure.

4 Companies in aerospace & defense
4+ Years of FPGA experience
Temple B.S. ECE · 2021
JHU M.S. CE · 4.0 GPA
Experience

Where I've Worked

Systems FPGA Engineer II
Sep 2025 — Present
Astranis Space Technologies
Building satellites for high orbits. Designing and verifying FPGA logic for geostationary systems where reliability is non-negotiable and every design decision has to survive the harshness of space.
RTL Development FPGA GEO Satellites Space Hardware
FPGA Engineer II, Lunar Permanence
Aug 2024 — Aug 2025 · 1 yr 1 mo
Blue Origin · Renton, WA
Full-time FPGA engineer on the Lunar Permanence program — Blue Origin's effort to establish sustained human presence on the Moon. Developed RTL for mission-critical embedded systems in a fast-paced, high-stakes hardware environment.
RTL Development FPGA Lunar Systems Embedded Hardware
FPGA Engineer
Jun 2023 — Aug 2024 · 1 yr 3 mos
Intellian Technologies · Rockville, MD
Designed FPGA logic for satellite communication antenna systems. Developed RTL and contributed to the full design cycle from specification through verification and hardware bring-up.
RTL Development FPGA Satellite Comms Antenna Systems
Digital Engineer
Jan 2022 — Jun 2023 · 1 yr 6 mos
Cobham Advanced Electronic Solutions (now Honeywell) · Full-time
Worked on embedded digital systems at a defense and space electronics supplier. Gained deep experience in RTL development and embedded systems before the company's acquisition by Honeywell.
Embedded Systems RTL Development Defense Electronics Digital Design
Skills

What I Know

FPGA & HDL
VHDL90%
Verilog / SystemVerilog85%
RTL Design90%
Timing Closure80%
Simulation & Verification85%
🛰️ Space Systems
GEO Satellite Hardware85%
Avionics Systems75%
Space-Grade Design80%
Embedded Firmware75%
🔧 Tools & EDA
Xilinx Vivado85%
Intel Quartus75%
MATLAB / Simulink70%
Python80%
Git / Version Control85%
📡 Signal & Digital
Digital Signal Processing80%
High-Speed Interfaces75%
PCB / Hardware Debug70%
RF Systems65%
Education

Where I Studied

M.S. Computer Engineering
Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering
2024 — 2027 · GPA: 4.0
Radiation Effects Embedded C
B.S. Electrical & Computer Engineering
Temple University
2017 — 2021
Xilinx Vivado Embedded Systems
Contact

Let's Connect

Interested in FPGA design for space, working together, or just want to talk hardware? I'd love to hear from you.