Mechanical Engineer | Deployable Radiators

Cowboy Space Corp.

8d•$150,000 - $200,000•Onsite

About The Position

Cowboy Space Corp. is seeking a Mechanical Engineer specializing in Deployable Radiators to be the responsible engineer for large deployable radiators. These radiators are crucial for rejecting heat from on-orbit compute payloads and integrating the spacecraft’s liquid cooling loop. This is a hands-on role where you will own the structural design of radiator panels, the mechanisms for stowing, restraining, and deploying them, and the thermal integration. You will manage this hardware from concept and analysis through ground testing, qualification, and on-orbit deployment. The radiators are large, load-bearing structures that must withstand launch environments while stowed and deploy reliably into a stiff, flat radiating surface in orbit. You will collaborate with cross-functional teams including thermal, structures, manufacturing, propulsion, power, avionics, and software to deliver an integrated solution. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in structures and manufacturing, coupled with solid mechanism design skills, and the ability to take full ownership of critical hardware.

Requirements

BS or MS in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field
3+ years of experience designing and analyzing lightweight structures and mechanical hardware in aerospace or other high-performance environments
Strong structural fundamentals: strength, stiffness, and buckling lightweight structures, and bonded and mechanically fastened joints
Hands-on experience designing mechanisms such as hinges, latches, springs, and release devices or large structural assemblies
Proficiency with FEA for static, modal, and dynamic analysis of structures
Experience taking hardware from concept through build and test, with hands-on integration and test experience
Proficiency with CAD (e.g., NX, SolidWorks, or similar)
Experience working in fast-paced, hardware-focused development environments
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.

Nice To Haves

Direct experience designing deployable structures—radiators, solar array substrates, antennas, or booms—including stowed restraint, deployment mechanisms, and latching
Experience designing for space environments (thermal, vibration, vacuum) and background in spacecraft structures, mechanisms, or thermal systems
Experience with bonded and welded assemblies and sheet-metal or machined-frame fabrication
Airframe or launch-vehicle primary-structure experience, including significant ascent loads
Familiarity with radiator or thermal-control design and thermal-fluid coupling to cooling loops at the spacecraft system level
Knowledge of aerospace standards (MIL-SPEC, NASA-STD, ECSS) and spaceflight hardware qualification and acceptance margins
Hands-on experience with prototyping, machining, deployment test rigs, and gravity-offload or ambient deployment testing
Startup or early-stage hardware experience; comfort operating with significant technical ambiguity

Responsibilities

Own the structural design of the deployable radiator panels from concept through flight, sizing them to survive stowed launch and ascent loads and to deploy into a radiating surface.
Perform structural analysis across the full mission profile, including quasi-static and random vibration launch loads and deployed-state dynamics.
Drive design-for-manufacturing of the panels and their assemblies, including joining and/or bonding methods, and work with suppliers to ensure high-quality, scalable production.
Design the deployment mechanisms that stow, restrain, and deploy the radiators—hinges, latches, and release devices—and the interfaces that carry loads into the spacecraft.
Analyze deployment kinematics, mechanism loads, restraint release, synchronization, and deployment reliability and margin, and design out jam and hang-up risks.
Integrate the radiator panels with the liquid cooling loop and perform the thermal design of the radiator—heat rejection, fin efficiency, and thermal gradients—in partnership with the thermal team.
Design, build, and operate ground testbeds and dev rigs to characterize panels and mechanisms, validate deployment, and de-risk the flight design ahead of qualification.
Develop and execute deployment, structural static/modal, vibration, thermal-vacuum, and qualification/acceptance test programs to verify flight-worthiness.
Author and maintain drawings, interface control documents, analysis reports, test procedures, and release/configuration records.
Diagnose and resolve structural, mechanism, and thermal anomalies during integration and test, applying root-cause analysis and implementing corrective actions.
Partner with thermal, structures, propulsion, power, avionics, and software teams to ensure the radiators integrate seamlessly within the overall spacecraft architecture.
Embrace a fast-paced development environment, driving quick design cycles, hardware builds, and test campaigns to accelerate the program schedule.