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NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars · Student Challenge FY2026–27
Ground Systems Software Engineering
Khachatur Hakobyan · Student, Glendale Community College
Independent student portfolio for the NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars (NCAS) Student Challenge. Not an official NASA website.
Executive Summary
Ground Systems Software Engineering is the career focus of this portfolio: the software on Earth that receives spacecraft telemetry, prepares and sends commands, and gives mission teams a clear view of their spacecraft.1,4
The foundation is a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics from Yerevan State University and professional iOS engineering since 2014, most recently as a Senior iOS Engineer, with iOS team leadership at four companies. That work centered on software architecture, shared SDKs, Swift and C++ debugging, automated testing and CI/CD, the disciplines that keep complex software dependable.
Current study at Glendale Community College strengthens the systems side. Programming in C/C++ and Introduction to Programming in Java are complete; Discrete Structures and Computer Architecture and Assembly Language are in progress. Harvard CS50 and the Meta iOS Developer Professional Certificate add structured, continuous learning.
Through the NCAS Student Challenge, this portfolio maps that coursework and experience to NASA's mission workforce: how ground systems support operations, which skills the work requires, and the education still ahead, with graduate study in Systems Engineering as a long-term goal.
PathwayThe target role and the foundation behind it, stated once and carried through every section.
Career Journey · 01–07
Seven chapters, from early wonder to a focused aerospace pathway.
Chapter 01 · Childhood
A childhood fascination with space, planets, stars and the universe.
Curiosity reached the mathematics and physics that explain them, and the inner workings of computers, televisions, radios and electronics.
Chapter 02 · Academic foundations
Formal computer science education, followed by continuous learning.
Chapter 03 · Professional experience · since 2014
iOS engineering since January 2014, then senior engineering and iOS team leadership across five companies, focused on architecture, shared platforms and reliable delivery.
Chapter 04 · Glendale Community College
U.S. community college study focused on systems foundations.
Pursuing computer science and STEM coursework at Glendale Community College, building on professional software engineering experience through studies in Java, C/C++, discrete structures, computer architecture, and Assembly language. Integrating computing and Earth science concepts to explore connections between academic coursework, reliable software systems, computational problem-solving, and NASA-related aerospace career pathways through the NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars (NCAS) Student Challenge.
Chapter 05 · NASA NCAS · Now
Participant in the NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars Student Challenge, FY2026–27.
Career research centered on Ground Systems Software Engineering: the software that connects spacecraft with the teams who operate them.
Chapter 06 · Future career · Goal
Long-term direction: systems engineering and architecture.
Requirements, integration, verification and reliability across complex systems, with graduate study in Systems Engineering as a goal.
Chapter 07 · The vision · Vision
Software for intelligent mission control, autonomous spacecraft and resilient space systems.
The long-range aim behind every chapter above.
PathwayEach chapter adds a layer: curiosity, computer science, production engineering, systems coursework and NASA career research.
Academic & Skill Alignment
GCC coursework builds technical skills; each skill maps to a ground-systems task. Select any course, skill or task to trace its path.
Showing all connections. Select a course, skill or task.
GCC course→Technical skill→Ground-systems task
PathwayEvery course and skill above points to a specific ground-systems task.
Experiences & Projects · 3 of 3
Three engineering stories, each with its link to mission-support software. Every sentence below is part of the submitted portfolio.
01 · Architecture
KSF Technologies AG · Senior iOS Engineer · Zürich (remote) · Nov 2021 – Present
Redesigned the login and authentication system of a large iOS application, replacing tightly coupled code with protocol-oriented, service-based modules. Built a reusable Core SDK that centralizes Keychain storage, Core Data, settings and dialog services in one shared layer. Applied SOLID, DRY and KISS principles to keep module boundaries clear and code reusable. Authentication-related defects decreased, and duplicated code fell as features moved onto the shared SDK.
Ground systems are assembled from shared services; NASA's AMMOS, for example, provides multimission software for mission operations.3 Designing one SDK for many features follows the same principle: solve a problem once, test it well and reuse it safely. Careful credential handling and secure storage build habits that matter wherever commands and data must stay protected. Clear module boundaries also make software easier to verify, which reduces risk for the teams that depend on it.
02 · Systems debugging
Crypmoji · iOS Team Lead (Senior iOS Engineer) · Los Angeles · Feb 2021 – Nov 2021
Led iOS work on a proof of concept for live encrypted messaging after comparing three delivery strategies: simulation, full integration and a phased MVP. Delivered a working demonstration within a fixed four-day window. Diagnosed a long-standing Swift–C++ memory ownership defect and removed unsafe handoffs between the two languages. Fixing the root cause avoided a full rewrite of the affected code.
Mission software often spans several languages and layers; NASA's F´ flight software framework, for example, is built in C++.5 Ownership errors at a language boundary are hard to detect and may appear only under load, so disciplined root-cause analysis matters. The same method of reproducing, isolating and fixing the cause applies to investigating anomalies in operations. Choosing a delivery strategy under a fixed four-day limit reflects the trade-offs that mission schedules demand.
03 · Quality engineering
Xamlab · iOS Team Lead (Senior iOS Engineer) · Los Angeles · Jan 2019 – Mar 2020
Led the migration of a ticket-validation app from Xamarin and C# to native Swift with modular MVVM and protocol-oriented design. Introduced comprehensive unit testing and set up CI/CD in Azure DevOps with stronger pull-request standards. Ticket validation became faster and more reliable, and the app's App Store rating improved. Mentored engineers on testing and code review practices.
Ground software must behave correctly every time, so automated tests and gated releases are central to how it is built and changed. Migrating a working system without losing behavior resembles modernizing long-lived ground systems that missions still rely on. Fast, accurate validation at the point of use parallels processing and decoding telemetry correctly as it arrives.1 Mentoring on review and testing spreads the verification culture that complex, multi-team missions need.
PathwayEach project ends with its direct link to mission-support software.
Career Pathway
The software on Earth that keeps missions connected, observable and safe.
Telemetry carries a spacecraft's science and engineering data to Earth, where ground systems collect, process, decode and distribute it. Commands travel the other way, as coded files the spacecraft executes.1
NASA's Deep Space Network keeps continuous contact through antenna complexes near Goldstone, California; Madrid, Spain; and Canberra, Australia.2 On the ground, multimission software such as NASA's AMMOS3 and mission control frameworks such as Open MCT, developed at NASA's Ames Research Center,4 turn that data into decisions.
Instruments and subsystems produce science and engineering data and execute received commands.1
Antenna complexes spaced around the globe keep continuous radio contact.2
Collect, process, decode and distribute telemetry; build, check and send commands; feed mission control displays.1,4
Flight controllers, engineers and scientists use the data to track the spacecraft and plan next steps.1
Telemetry path: Spacecraft → Deep Space Network → Ground systems → Mission teams.
Discrete Structures and Computer Architecture and Assembly Language at GCC; NCAS career research.
Data Structures, Calculus and Linear Algebra appear in the GCC academic plan; not yet enrolled.
Graduate study in Systems Engineering and ground systems software roles in aerospace.
Research, design, and develop computer and network software or specialized utility programs.6
Series 0854, Computer Engineering · NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland.9,10
PathwayCoursework → skills → ground systems role → graduate study: one continuous line.
Chapter 07 · The Vision
From childhood wonder to a future of discovery and innovation.
Resume · One Page
An aerospace-aligned resume, rendered on the page and printed as its own sheet in the PDF.
Senior iOS Engineer · Ground Systems Software Engineering pathway · NCAS Student Challenge FY2026–27
Los Angeles, California, USA · khachatur.hakobyan2023 [at] gmail.com · linkedin.com/in/khachatur-hakobyan
Senior iOS engineer and technical leader: professional iOS engineering since 2014, including iOS team leadership at four companies. Focused on software architecture, reliability, cross-language debugging and testing; preparing for aerospace ground systems work through community college study.
Redesigned authentication with protocol-oriented, service-based modules; built a reusable Core SDK.
Delivered an encrypted-messaging prototype in four days; resolved a Swift–C++ memory ownership defect.
Built a reusable UI system; integrated Stripe and Apple Pay checkout.
Led the Xamarin-to-Swift migration with modular MVVM, unit testing and CI/CD.
Delivered iOS apps with MVC/VIPER and Core Data; reduced crashes through analysis and refactoring.
Completed: Introduction to Programming Using Java; Programming in C/C++. In progress: Discrete Structures for Computing; Computer Architecture and Assembly Language.
Bachelor's degree, Computer Science & Applied Mathematics.
Introduction to Computer Science.
iOS Developer Professional Certificate.
Swift, Objective-C, C++ (professional); C, Java, Python (coursework) · Software architecture: modular, MVVM, protocol-oriented · Debugging and memory safety · Unit testing, CI/CD, code review · Discrete structures, computer architecture (in progress)
NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars Student Challenge, FY2026–27: career research in Ground Systems Software Engineering.
PathwayTailored to aerospace ground-systems roles; the general engineering resume lives at /resume.
Research & Sources
Image credits. Earth from deep space, lunar terrain and Apollo astronaut bootprint: NASA, via NASA 3D Resources (github.com/nasa/NASA-3D-Resources). Mars: rendered for this page from NASA's global Mars color mosaic (same source). Hubble eXtreme Deep Field: NASA, ESA, G. Illingworth, D. Magee and P. Oesch (University of California, Santa Cruz), R. Bouwens (Leiden University) and the HUDF09 Team.
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