Composite Engineer

Astrobotic Technology, Inc. is a space robotics company that seeks to make space accessible to the world. The company’s suite of lunar landers delivers payloads to the Moon for companies, governments, universities, non-profits, and individuals. The company is also developing advanced space robotics capabilities such as terrain relative navigation, mobile robotics for lunar surface operations, and reliable computing systems for mission-critical applications. Originally spun out of Carnegie Mellon University in 2007, Astrobotic is pioneering affordable planetary access that promises to spark a new era of exploration, science, tourism, resource utilization, and mining. Astrobotic’s headquarters is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with a second location in Mojave, California.

Astrobotic is enabling sustainable access and utilization of the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Through its recent acquisition of Masten Space Systems, we’ve been building and flying reusable rockets for nearly two decades with the most successful rocket-powered landings in the industry. We work directly with NASA, defense, and commercial customers to develop the tech it takes to break down the barriers to space. Together, we’ll make wild napkin ideas possible by taking them from the lab to the test site, all the way to the lunar surface and beyond.

This position will be primarily involved in developing Xogdor, a clean-sheet vertical-takeoff vertical-landing rocket that will serve as a suborbital testbed to help NASA, defense, and commercial customers to validate landing technologies for the Moon and beyond. Our Structures team is looking for a structural/mechanical engineer with a focus in composites design and test, to join us at the Mojave, CA location.

Job Responsibilities:

• Design, fabricate, integrate, and test the rocket’s physical components and systems with a focus in composites.
• Develop novel composite designs to reduce mass and increase performance
• Progress components (composite and non-composite) through the entire lifecycle: concept, design, analysis, manufacturing, and validation.
• Interact closely with interfacing systems, may also be called upon to work with customers or other departments within Astrobotic.
• Design, analysis and fabrication of composite structures and molds for OOA manual layups.
• Design of vehicle material, component, and subassembly-level test methods and fixtures, and both NDE and test-to-failure programs.
• Assess designs for manufacturability.
• Reviewing, updating, and compiling engineering analytical definition of structural components and assemblies based on input from the engineering team
• Developing standardized analysis criteria and templates
• Supporting review of manufacturing plans and procedures to ensure compliance with design and loads requirements

Required Skills & Qualifications:

• Bachelor of Science or Engineering in a relevant engineering discipline or equivalent experience
• Demonstrated proficiency in Solidworks
• Experience in composite fabrication, design, and analysis processes
• Including layup schedules, resin systems, mold design, curing processes, pre- and post-processing, etc.
• 3+ years of hands-on experience working with structural/aerospace composites.
• Knowledge of composites manufacturing and sizing of composite structures (i.e. FEA models, including pre and post processing of Ansys models) and associated sizing of composite structures.
• Strong problem solving, organizational, and communication skills
• Strong knowledge of aerospace technologies and products

Desired Skills & Qualifications:

• Drawing generation & Geometric Dimensioning & Tolerancing (GD&T)
• Experience designing for part manufacturability
• Ability to assess components for manufacturability.
• Familiarity of design with and analysis of a wide range of materials (including common aerospace metals and composites) and material processes (including welding, composites manufacture, bonding, fastening and 3d printing).
• Familiarity with interfacing systems including aerodynamics, GNC, thermal, electrical and propulsion and how these systems may affect or depend on vehicle structures.
• Experience with additive manufacturing, i.e. design for AM, material properties, post-processing, etc.
• Hands-on fabrication experience including manual mill and lathe, CNC operation, and common welding processes.

Salary Range: $85,000 - $140,000

The base salary range represents the low and high end of the anticipated salary range for this position. The actual base salary offered for this position will depend on numerous factors including individual performance, business objectives, and the candidates professional experience. Base salary is just one component of Astrobotic’s competitive total rewards strategy.

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Astrobotic Technology, Inc. does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factor.

If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or the recruiting process, please send a request to contact@astrobotic.com.