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Fluids Engineer Level 1

Cowboy Space Corporation· Launch & Propulsion Engineering
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Kent, Washington$100k - $135kFull-timePosted 1mo ago

About the role

Fluid systems engineer responsible for owning a fluid subsystem from concept through flight, with potential focus on propulsion fluid design, vehicle propulsion feed systems, tank pressure controls, or pneumatic systems. Collaborative, hands-on role driving design, analysis, testing, and integration to support rocket propulsion hardware and mission success.

Responsibilities

  • Own your fluid subsystem from concept through design, analysis, test, and flight.
  • Drive fluid component and system designs for minimum mass while meeting pressure drop, proof, burst, leakage, cycle-life, and operating-life requirements across ground, ascent, and on-orbit environments.
  • Design valves, fluid routing architectures, and fluid storage hardware for propellant, pneumatic, and thermal fluid service on rocket engines and vehicle fluid systems
  • Balance performance, manufacturability, cost, and schedule in every design decision.
  • Perform analysis — hand calculations, FEA, tolerance stack-ups — and validate predictions with test and flight data
  • Own fluid subsystem layout and integration, ensuring compatibility across propulsion, thermal, and pneumatic systems.
  • Define and execute qualification and acceptance test campaigns (proof, burst, leak, flow, cycle life, vibration); author procedures, acceptance criteria, and anomaly dispositions.
  • Develop and maintain engineering drawings, models, specifications, interface control documents, and release documentation.
  • Work directly on the factory floor with manufacturing and technicians to iterate quickly and resolve build issues in real time.
  • Troubleshoot hardware anomalies, perform root cause analysis, and implement design improvements.
  • Support engine and vehicle integration, hot-fire and fill/drain operations, ground system interfaces, post-test inspection, and refurbishment planning.

Qualifications

  • - Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or related field.
  • - 1+ years of experience designing fluid system hardware (valves, regulators, tanks and pressure vessels, tubing, fittings, or manifolds) for flight vehicles or high-performance hardware. Internships, co-ops, and competition or research team experience count.
  • - Experience taking hardware from concept through build, integration, and test.
  • - Strong fundamentals in fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, heat transfer, structural mechanics, materials, and manufacturing processes.
  • - Experience with fluid system analysis: pressure drop and flow sizing, structural analysis of pressure vessels, or thermal-fluid modeling.
  • - Proficiency with CAD (NX, SolidWorks, CATIA, or Creo) and creating engineering drawings to ASME Y14.5 GD&T standards.
  • - Must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum.

Skills

Required:Fluid subsystem designFluid system analysisCAD & drawings

Benefits

  • - Equity in Cowboy Space Corp.
  • - Medical, dental, and vision insurance for employees and eligible dependents
  • - 401(k) retirement savings plan
  • - Paid time off
  • - 10 paid holidays per calendar year
  • - Paid parental leave
  • - Relocation assistance if applicable
  • - Daily lunch in the office and a fully stocked kitchen with beverages and snacks
Last updated Sep 20, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.

About Cowboy Space Corporation

Powering Humanity From the High Frontier

Cowboy Space Corp. is building a power grid in outer space for artificial intelligence. It is an integrated system of satellites and rockets to haul high-performance compute and optical data transmission down from Low Earth Orbit. Earth's energy grid can't run at the pace of AI. We can.

Orbital Data CentersAI compute in spacesolar-powered data centersLow Earth Orbitpower grid in space
Company profileWebsite

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