Thermal Engineer

Aerospacelab; Louvain-la-Neuve; On-site; EUR 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible ways of working

Salary package aligned with experience

Direct impact on company growth

Job summary

Aerospacelab is seeking a Thermal Engineer to design and implement thermal control solutions for satellites. You will lead thermal design from concept to launch, ensuring components stay within operating temperatures across missions.

Join a growing team with offices in Louvain-la-Neuve and internationally. You will analyze subsystems, develop thermal models, and collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to optimize thermal performance and reliability.

Qualifications

• MSc degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Physics or related field.
• Experience in satellite thermal design and analysis; thesis or internship counts.
• Familiar with thermal analysis tools (Systema-Thermica, ESATAN-TMS, Thermal Desktop or similar).
• Strong understanding of heat transfer basics and space thermal environments.
• Excellent communication and teamwork skills; proactive mindset.
• Fluency in English.

Responsibilities

• Perform thermal analyses of satellites and subsystems.
• Develop and maintain thermal models at satellite and subsystem levels.
• Contribute to design and sizing of thermal control hardware.
• Define thermal interface requirements for units and payloads.
• Support thermal balance and vacuum test campaigns and data processing.
• Contribute to model correlation using test and in-flight data.
• Provide thermal input to hardware and mechanical teams during design iterations.
• Prepare technical documentation.
• Interact with suppliers regarding thermal data and interfaces.
• Develop scripts to automate repetitive tasks in the workflow.

Skills

Good communication skills

Team spirit

Proactive mindset

English fluency

Education

MSc in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Physics

Tools

Systema-Thermica

ESATAN-TMS

Thermal Desktop

Simcenter 3D / NX Thermal

Job description

Our mission is supported by an ambitious vertically integrated approach: design & manufacture of small satellites combined with development of earth observation services.

Since its creation in 2018, the company has already grown substantially. Our team gathers more than 25 engineering expertise, from hardware design to software development & data science.

In 2026, Aerospacelab counts offices in Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium), Toulouse (France), Lausanne (Switzerland) and US West Coast with more than 500 full-time employees, with the ambition to position itself as the European leader in small satellites.

Role overview

As a Thermal Engineer at Aerospacelab, youwill play a critical role in designing and implementing thermal controlsolutions for satellites across various missions. Utilizing your expertise inthermal engineering, you will be key in ensuring that all components remainwithin their operational temperature ranges throughout their missions.Collaborating with multidisciplinary teams, you will guide the thermal designfrom concept through launch, focusing on thermal stability and performance.

Keyactivities

• Perform thermal analyses ofsatellites and subsystems
• Develop and maintain thermalmodels at satellite and subsystem level.
• Contribute to the design andsizing of thermal control hardware
• Support the definition ofthermal interface requirements for units and payloads.
• Support thermal balance andthermal vacuum test campaigns, including test predictions, test follow-up, andpost-test data processing.
• Contribute to thermal modelcorrelation using test and in-flight data.
• Provide thermal input tohardware and mechanical teams during design iterations.
• Prepare technical documentation
• Interact with suppliersregarding thermal data, models, and interface aspects.
• Develop scripts and tools toautomate repetitive tasks and streamline the thermal analysis workflow.

Must have

• MSc degree in MechanicalEngineering, Aerospace Engineering, Physics, or a related field.
• Experience in satellite thermaldesign and analysis. Relevant spacecraft-focused thesis or internshipexperience is considered.
• Experience with a thermalanalysis tool such as Systema-Thermica, ESATAN-TMS, Thermal Desktop, orsimilar.
• Good understanding of heattransfer fundamentals (conduction, radiation, convection) and the space thermalenvironment.
• Good communication skills, teamspirit, and a proactive mindset.
• Fluency in English.

Nice to have

• Enthusiasm for automating tasksand streamlining workflows, with scripting skills (Python).
• Experience with FEM-basedthermal analysis (e.g. Simcenter 3D / NX Thermal).
• Familiaritywith relevant standards (ECSS, NASA)
• Hands-on experience withthermal or thermal vacuum testing.

What we offer

Build your own career path

Direct impact on the growth of the company

Fast-paced environment

Flexible ways of working

Salary package consistent with your experience