Dragon Life Support System Engineer

SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES CORP; Hawthorne (CA); On-site; USD 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a forward-thinking company as a Dragon Life Support Systems Engineer, where you will play a vital role in ensuring the safety and functionality of life support systems aboard the Dragon spacecraft. This challenging position involves overseeing the design and development of critical thermal control systems, collaborating with diverse teams to enhance mission operations, and contributing to the full product life cycle. If you are passionate about aerospace engineering and eager to make a significant impact in a dynamic environment, this opportunity is perfect for you.

Qualifications

• 1+ years of experience in mechanical component design and development.
• Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline required.

Responsibilities

• Own life support and thermal control systems for the Dragon spacecraft.
• Perform thermal, structural, and fluids analysis during design.

Skills

Mechanical Design

Thermal Analysis

Fluid Dynamics

Collaboration

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering

Tools

NX CAD Software

Data Acquisition Equipment

Pressure Transducers

Thermocouples

Job description

DRAGON LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM ENGINEER

As a Dragon Life Support Systems Engineer at SpaceX, you will have the opportunity to utilize your knowledge, experience, and creativity as the owner of a portion of Dragon’s life support and thermal control systems. Our Life Support Systems team focuses on the Dragon spacecraft, and develops the necessary systems to allow Dragon to maintain and support life on board in addition to maintaining thermal conditioning of avionics, propulsion, structures, and mechanisms across the spacecraft. This is a challenging role that covers the full product life cycle from piece part and component manufacturing and testing, to vehicle and mission operations, through refurbishment and maintenance across multiple worksites. You will collaborate with various partners across production and manufacturing, space operations, launch operations, and flight and build reliability organizations.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Own a portion of the life support and thermal control systems aboard the SpaceX Dragon space capsule, consisting of system level requirements and component hardware ownership
• Perform thermal, structural, and fluids analysis as part of the design process
• Perform CAD modeling and drafting for new hardware development
• Define acceptance testing and qualification requirements, perform development and qualification testing to prove out design, and formally document test results
• Support build and capsule refurbishment through troubleshooting build problems and work to simplify and streamline recurring work to enable a higher launch cadence with higher reliability and lower labor hours per mission
• Support mission operations by providing real-time input during flight, completing data reviews and monitoring system performance, and working with partners to simplify operation of systems

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline
• 1+ years of hands on experience driving the design and development of mechanical components or systems (internship and project team experience is applicable)

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Hands-on experience with fluid (liquid and/or gas) handling systems
• Experience using data acquisition equipment, as well as test instrumentation and control components: pressure transducers, thermocouples, resistance temperature detectors, etc.
• Experience with HVAC systems and air ducting
• Experience with NX or similar CAD software
• Experience with fluid system schematics and fluid component selection
• Experience with drafting and Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerance (GD&T)
• Experience with pressurized structures and/or lightweight aerospace structures
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and rapidly learn and apply technical concepts and processes
• Strong collaboration and communication skills, and ability to work well in an integrated collaborative environment across engineers, technicians and leadership

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Must be willing to work extended hours and weekends as needed
• Ability to pass Air Force background checks for Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg