Senior Mechanisms Engineer - Satellite Mechanisms
Cowboy Space Corporation· Launch & Propulsion Engineering
Kent, Washington$150k - $180kFull-timePosted 4w ago
About the role
Senior Mechanisms Engineer responsible for owning a spacecraft mechanism subsystem from concept through flight, with potential focus areas including HDRMs, solar array deployment and drive systems, deployable structures, or thermal/radiator articulation mechanisms.
Responsibilities
- Own your mechanism subsystem from concept through design, analysis, test, and flight.
- Drive structural and kinematic design for minimum mass while meeting strength, stiffness, fatigue, and operational-life requirements across launch, on-orbit deployment, and mission-life environments.
- Balance performance, manufacturability, cost, and schedule in every design decision.
- Perform analysis — hand calculations, FEA, tolerance stack-ups, deployment dynamics — and validate predictions with test and on-orbit data.
- Define and execute qualification and acceptance test campaigns, including vibration, thermal vacuum, deployment, and life testing; author procedures, acceptance criteria, and anomaly dispositions.
- Develop and maintain engineering drawings, models, and release documentation.
- Work directly on the factory floor with manufacturing and integration & test teams to iterate quickly and resolve build issues in real time.
- Troubleshoot hardware anomalies, perform root cause analysis, and implement design improvements.
- Support spacecraft integration & test, launch site operations, and on-orbit commissioning/anomaly response.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related field.
- 5+ years of experience designing mechanisms or mechanical systems for spacecraft, launch vehicles, or high-performance hardware.
- Experience taking hardware from concept through build, integration, and test.
- Strong fundamentals in structural mechanics, kinematics, materials, and manufacturing processes.
- Proficiency with CAD (NX, SolidWorks, CATIA, or Creo) and creating engineering drawings to ASME Y14.5 GD&T standards.
- Proficiency with FEA tools (ANSYS, Nastran, or Abaqus) for mechanism load-path and dynamic problems.
- 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:Mechanism subsystem ownershipStructural mechanicsCAD proficiencyFEA tools
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 27, 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
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