Aerothermal Engineer I

Relativity Space•Long Beach, CA

5h•$90,000 - $136,000•Onsite

About The Position

Relativity Space is building rockets to serve today’s needs and tomorrow’s breakthroughs. Their Terran R vehicle will deliver customer payloads to orbit, meeting the growing demand for launch capacity. Joining Relativity means becoming part of something where autonomy, ownership, and impact exist at every level. This role is within the Integrated Performance teams, which ensure that products work across all systems and disciplines, from trajectory design to aerodynamics to reliability analysis and beyond. These groups size the Terran R rocket, design its missions for customer success, reliability, and reusability, and ensure that every system on the rocket and ground is engineered correctly for the demanding environments of launch and entry. The team recently completed the preliminary design and analysis of Terran R, including Relativity’s first-ever work on launch vehicle reusability, spanning advanced trajectory simulations, wind tunnel testing, and structures analysis. The Aerothermal Engineer I will develop and execute computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analyses to solve novel challenges in vehicle entry heating and supersonic retropropulsion. They will drive the design of major Terran R system elements, guide and mentor hardware engineers, scope and develop aerothermal databases, size thermal protection systems (TPS), support reusable TPS material development and testing, and mature Relativity’s tools for developing and communicating aerothermal data. Success in this role requires self-motivation, adaptability, the ability to contribute significantly to a fast-paced, integrated vehicle program, and the capacity to resolve ambiguity and drive projects to completion. The role involves performing analysis, developing software tools, and supporting design teams on a weekly basis, as well as managing documentation and communication.

Requirements

Undergraduate degree in engineering or related field
2+ years relevant experience
Proficiency in compressible flow and thermal analysis, preferably on entry vehicles
Experience executing CFD workflows for external flow, preferably including engine plume simulation
Experience solving cross-disciplinary design problems on integrated vehicles
Proficiency in Python and industry-standard CFD tools like FUN3D and Star-CCM+, including use of HPC clusters
Self-motivated, adaptable, and able to contribute significantly to a fast-paced, integrated vehicle program
Able to resolve ambiguity and drive projects to completion

Nice To Haves

Graduate degree in engineering or related field
5+ years relevant experience across 1 or more program lifecycles
Experience with thermal protection system sizing & analysis using standard tools like FIAT, CHAR, MINIVER, or LAURA
Exposure to aerothermal instrumentation, wind tunnel and flight testing

Responsibilities

Develop and execute computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analyses to solve novel challenges in vehicle entry heating and supersonic retropropulsion
Drive the design of major Terran R system elements – like fins, flaps, heat shields, and primary structure – to meet criteria for temperature and heating
Guide and mentor responsible hardware engineers to ensure hardware meets aerothermal requirements
Scope and develop aerothermal databases for ascent and entry, including uncertainty quantification, from multiple sources like CFD, empirical methods, and wind tunnel testing
Size thermal protection systems (TPS) for flight
Support re-usable TPS material development and testing
Mature Relativity’s tools for developing and communicating aerothermal data, including custom and commercial code, databases, and data processing tools
Performing analysis, developing software tools, and supporting design teams on a weekly basis
Use strong organizational skills to properly manage the documentation and communication of actions, recommendations, and decisions