Propulsion Development Engineer I

Location: Long Beach, California, United States

Department: Emerging Talent

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. 

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.

Minimum Qualifications:

• 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.

Preferred Skills & Experience:

• 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.