Deployable Structures Test Engineer

E-Space•Arlington, TX

33d•Onsite

About The Position

E-Space is bridging Earth and space to enable hyper-scaled deployments of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions and services. We are building a highly-advanced low Earth orbit (LEO) space system that will fundamentally change the design, economics, manufacturing and service delivery associated with traditional satellite and terrestrial IoT systems. We are looking for a Deployable Structures Test Engineer to own the ground deployment test program for E-Space's large deployable antenna structure. This person will design and execute gravity-offload deployment test campaigns, characterize deployment kinematics and force profiles, establish ground-to-flight correlation, and verify deployment repeatability against aperture geometry requirements. This is a specialized role at the intersection of mechanisms, structural testing, and test facility engineering - for someone who has thought carefully about what it actually means to simulate zero-gravity deployment on the ground. Hands-on test facility presence is required. Some travel between sites expected.

Requirements

BS or MS or Ph.D. in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering, or equivalent.
Experience with deployment or mechanism testing of flight hardware - solar arrays, antennas, booms, or equivalent deployable structures.
Hands-on experience with gravity-offload test setups for large flexible hardware.
Experience with force/torque measurement, deployment kinematics instrumentation, and photogrammetry or optical shape measurement.
Practical understanding of test-to-flight fidelity gaps for deployable structures in 1g.

Nice To Haves

Experience with composite boom deployment mechanisms or wrap-rib/coilable boom hardware.
Familiarity with friction and lubrication behavior in space mechanisms across temperature ranges.
Experience contributing to model-test correlation for deployment dynamics simulations.
Knowledge of TVAC deployment testing and the additional instrumentation challenges it introduces.

Responsibilities

Own the deployment test plan for the antenna assembly - from test requirements definition through gravity-offload rig design, test execution, and post-test correlation.
Design or oversee design of gravity-offload and support fixtures appropriate for large flexible deployable structures, including friction budget analysis and rig compliance characterization.
Execute deployment tests, capturing deployment force/torque profiles, deployable element tip trajectories, deployment timelines, and deployment-state shape measurements (photogrammetry or equivalent).
Establish ground-to-flight correlation methodology: characterize offload rig artifacts, derive correction factors, and bound residual uncertainty in flight deployment prediction.
Verify deployment repeatability run-to-run and characterize sensitivity to deployment sequencing, temperature, and lubricant state.
Coordinate with the deployment mechanism team to characterize actuator force output and locked-state stiffness/backlash for use as structural dynamics boundary conditions.
Coordinate with structural subsystem teams to characterize subsystem performance and define an integrated testing campaign.
Feed deployment test data into the integrated structural model; participate in model-test correlation reviews with the IAS structures analyst.