Astranis builds advanced satellites for high orbits, expanding humanity’s reach into the solar system. Today, Astranis satellites provide dedicated, secure networks to highly-sophisticated customers across the globe— large enterprises, sovereign governments, and the US military. With five satellites on orbit and many more set to launch soon, the company is servicing a backlog of more than $1 billion of commercial contracts.
Astranis is the preferred satellite communications partner for buyers with stringent requirements for uptime, data security, network visibility, and customization. Astranis has raised over $750 million from some of the world’s best investors, from Andreessen Horowitz to Blackrock and Fidelity, and employs a team of 450 engineers and entrepreneurs. Astranis designs, builds, and operates its satellites out of its 153,000 sq. ft. headquarters in Northern California, USA.
Senior Mechanical Engineer- RF Packaging
As an Astranis Senior Mechanical Engineer for Electronics Packaging you will own the complete lifecycle of various components and subsystems on our spacecraft. Whether it is incremental improvements or the introduction of a new system, you will work together with the various other teams at Astranis to make them a reality.
In addition to being a significant individual on your own, you will mentor and train junior mechanical engineers on such projects. You must have a strong problem-solving background, hands-on testing skills, and preferably some experience with spacecraft and/or aerospace engineering.
Role
- Complete ownership of product outcomes for spaceflight hardware, with a focus on high frequency active and passive RF and digital electronics
- Develop requirements for subsystems and components including loads, interfaces, and functional requirements
- Perform mechanical design and analysis of complex electronics enclosures to satisfy launch and on-orbit requirements
- Develop and define design best practices for future programs
- Manage system level schedule and integration requirements for your components while working together with the Assembly, Integration, and Test team to enable a smooth build process
- Assist in recruiting, interviewing, and hiring additional teammates to our rapidly-growing team.
Requirements
- B.S. or M.S in mechanical, electrical, aerospace engineering, or equivalent
- 4 - 15+ years of mechanical design or equivalent experience
- 3+ years designing, analyzing, and testing active or passive high frequency RF electronics packages. Examples include phased array antenna packaging, SSPAs, waveguide assemblies, feedplanes, filters, RF enclosures, and MUX/DEMUX.
- Familiarity with chip and wire and splitblock construction
- Strong CAD design and Finite Element analysis skills
- Experience with GD&T and designing for manufacturability
- Demonstrated ability to personally design, evaluate, and procure complex mechanical assemblies with 30-40 components in aerospace or similar
- A passion for hardware development, including working in a fast-paced environment with hands-on design and development
- A motivated leader who has experience mentoring and supporting junior engineers
- Don't meet them all? Not a problem. Please apply even if you do not meet all these criteria.
Bonus
- Experience with Ku, Ka, and Q/V band electronics package development for space missions
- Experience with thermal analysis and thermal management techniques for RF electronics in space applications, including with heat pipes
- Experience with vibration environments and mechanical testing on spacecraft components
- Experience with brazed construction techniques for RF packages
- Experience in synthesizing requirements and flowing them down to sub-scale verification builds and testing
U.S. Citizenship, Lawful Permanent Residency, or Refugee/Asylee Status Required
(To comply with U.S. Government space technology export regulations, applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the United States, or other protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3))
Our mission and our products are meant to connect the world and everyone in it, regardless of gender, race, creed, or any other distinction. We believe in a diverse and inclusive workplace, and we encourage all people to join our team and bring their unique perspective to help make us stronger.