Propulsion Development Engineer I

Vast • Long Beach, CA

5h • $85,000 - $108,000 • Onsite

About The Position

At Vast, our mission is to contribute to a future where billions of people are living and thriving in space. Vast is developing next-generation space stations to ensure a continuous human presence in space for America and its allies, enabling advanced microgravity research and manufacturing, and unlocking a new space economy for government, corporate, and private customers. Using an incremental, hardware-rich and low-cost approach, Vast is rapidly developing its multi-module Haven Station. Haven Demo’s 2025 success made Vast the only operational commercial space station company to fly and operate its own spacecraft. Next, Haven-1 is expected to become the world’s first commercial space station when it launches, followed by additional Haven modules to enable permanent human presence by 2030. Our team is all-in, committed to executing our mission safely and on time. If you want to work with the most talented people on Earth furthering space exploration for humanity, come join us.
Vast is looking for a Propulsion Development Engineer I, reporting to the Director of Propulsion Development, to support the development of the systems that will be required for the design and build of artificial-gravity human-rated space stations. The Propulsion Development team is responsible for the hands-on design, analysis, build, and test of propulsion components and integrated systems that enable vehicle maneuvering and on-orbit operations. Working across both chemical and electric architectures, we support hardware from clean-sheet concepts through development, qualification, acceptance testing, and production of flight units, including participation in hot-fire campaigns throughout the lifecycle.
This will be a full-time, exempt position located in our Long Beach location.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, or a related field completed or expected by June 2026.
• Hands-on engineering experience in mechanical, fluids, or propulsion systems
• Ability to travel to our Mojave test site frequently during the first year to support development and test operations.

Nice To Haves

• Demonstrated experience designing, building, and testing real hardware whether through industry roles, research projects, competitive student teams, startups, or independent technical projects. Show us what you’ve built!
• Experience with propulsion or high-performance fluid systems (chemical and/or electric), including exposure to hot-fire or high-power test environments.
• Strong fundamentals in fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, mechanics of materials, and basic electrical systems.
• Hands-on familiarity with machine shops, fabrication processes, pressure systems, instrumentation, and data acquisition.
• Proficiency with CAD tools such as NX, Creo, or CATIA, including working knowledge of GD&T and production-ready drawing practices.
• Experience performing structural or thermal analysis using FEA tools (ANSYS, FEMAP, or similar), with understanding of stress, fatigue, and failure modes.
• Background in spacecraft, launch vehicle, or other high-reliability aerospace systems.
• Advanced degree in a relevant engineering or physics discipline, particularly where the work involved meaningful hardware development or experimental research.

Responsibilities

• Own the design, analysis, build, and test of propulsion components and subsystems, spanning thrusters, valves, feed system hardware, and integrated fluid systems.
• Drive hardware from concept through qualification, acceptance testing, and flight production, maintaining end-to-end responsibility for technical execution, performance, and documentation.
• Execute hands-on development and hot-fire test campaigns, including significant participation at our Mojave test site in test setup, operations, troubleshooting, and post-test data review.
• Support electric propulsion development efforts, including integration and performance characterization at both Vast facilities and external partner sites such as NASA test centers.
• Apply first-principles engineering fundamentals to support design decisions, document analyses, and clearly communicate results within a cross-functional team.
• Partner closely with manufacturing, technicians, avionics, and vehicle engineering to ensure hardware is practical, testable, and production-ready.

Benefits

• 100% medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and dependents, generous paid time off; up to 20+ days of vacation for exempt staff and up to 10+ days of vacation for non-exempt staff with the ability to cash-out unused vacation annually, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability insurance, life insurance, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, ClassPass credits, personalized mental healthcare through Spring Health, and other discounts and perks.
• We also take pride in offering exceptional food perks, with snacks, drip coffee & onsite barista, cold drinks, and dinner meals remaining free of charge, and lunch subsidized as part of Vast’s ongoing commitment to providing high-quality meals for employees.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level