The rise in complexity of the algorithms run on space systems, largely attributable to higher resolution instruments which generate a large amount of the data to be processed, as well as to the need for increased autonomy which relies on Neural Network inference systems in future missions, demand the adoption of more powerful on-board hardware, such as multicores. At the same time, the correctness and reliability of critical on-board software is of paramount importance for the success of the missions. However, developing such complex software in low-level languages can have a negative impact on these aspects. For this reason, this thesis evaluates the role that the Rust programming language can have in this change, given its memory safety and built in support for parallelism, which allows to better utilise more powerful hardware, in particular multicore cpus, without compromising programmability and safety of the code.