Star Catcher
Spacecraft Mechanisms Engineer
Jacksonville, Florida, United States · Full-time · Posted Oct 19, 2026
- Experience
- Minimum three years; spacecraft mechanisms or other relevant industry experience.
- Education
- Bachelor's degree in mechanical or aerospace engineering, or a related field.
- Visa sponsorship
- 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 required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State under U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including ITAR.
About the job
Design, analyze, test, and qualify spacecraft mechanisms for deployment, release, and pointing on space-to-space power-beaming spacecraft and the Star Catcher Network.
What you'll do
- Design deployment, hold-down/release, and pointing mechanisms; perform torque, force, kinematic, and dynamic analyses.
- Plan and execute mechanism development, qualification, and life testing, including test fixtures and gravity offload setups.
- Produce engineering drawings and technical documentation, and coordinate mechanism integration with multidisciplinary teams and fabrication shops.
What they ask for
- Bachelor's degree in mechanical or aerospace engineering, or a related field.
- Minimum three years of experience designing spacecraft mechanisms or other relevant industry experience.
- Experience producing CAD models and drawings with GD&T in Autodesk Inventor or equivalent.
- Hands-on experience in a shop, lab, or cleanroom supporting hardware build, integration, or environmental testing.
Nice to have
- Master's or PhD degree in mechanical or aerospace engineering, or a related field.
- Experience with deployment simulation, deployable structures, Ansys Mechanical, or pointing/gimbal mechanisms.
Tools
Autodesk Inventor, NASA-STD-5017, Ansys Mechanical, stepper, brushless DC motors, harmonic drives, gearheads, encoders
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative