Lead Spacecraft Thermal Modeling Engineer

K2Spacecorporation; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid time off

Medical/dental/vision coverage

Life insurance

Paid parental leave

Job summary

K2 Space is building the largest and highest-power satellites, unlocking performance across every orbit. You will lead thermal modeling and simulations, predicting spacecraft temperatures from ground processing to on-orbit operations, and partner with Thermal Design Engineers to ensure manufacturability.

The role emphasizes analysis and simulation rather than hardware sizing, with mentorship of junior analysts and contribution to production-ready testing and data acquisition systems.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience with thermal testing in a high-rate manufacturing environment.
• 3+ years of experience sizing and testing fluid systems including pumps, valves, accumulators, heat exchangers, cold plates etc.
• Demonstrated experience with data acquisition for thermal and power related applications.
• Experience with test plan development and execution.
• Strong experience with thermal and TVAC testing including setup, instrumentation, and troubleshooting.
• Demonstrated knowledge of NX or AutoCAD is preferred to design test fixtures.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end orbital thermal models via Thermal Desktop for the spacecraft bus from initial architecture through flight.
• Work with lead engineers to design active and passive thermal control systems using basic heat transfer equations to size lines, pumps, accumulators, cold plates etc.
• Lead steady-state and transient thermal analyses across the full worst-case hot/cold mission envelope, including degraded and off-nominal cases.
• Lead trade studies on thermal control architecture.
• Define and defend thermal margins at PDR/CDR-level design reviews; present findings directly to program leadership and customers.
• Drive correlation of thermal models against TVAC and thermal balance test data; lead root-cause investigation when predictions and test disagree.
• Set modeling standards and best practices for the analysis team; mentor junior/associate thermal analysts.
• Design and development of heater and cooling systems including control architecture.
• Setup, commission, and maintain state-of-the‑art test stands and instrumentation.
• Develop data acquisition systems for active and passive thermal control systems.
• Perform tests on novel pump fluid loop including feed systems, power electronics, and hardware-in-the‑loop.
• Develop testing and control scripts to conduct safe and reliable test campaigns of pump fluid loop and individual components.
• Own analysis documentation and verification closure packages for customer and internal reviews.

Skills

Thermal testing

Fluid systems sizing

Data acquisition

Test plan development

Thermal TVAC testing

NX/AutoCAD familiarity

Tools

NX

AutoCAD

Thermal Desktop

Job description

K2 Space is building the largest and highest-power satellites, unlocking performance across every orbit. You will lead thermal modeling and simulations, predicting spacecraft temperatures from ground processing to on-orbit operations, and partner with Thermal Design Engineers to ensure manufacturability.

The role emphasizes analysis and simulation rather than hardware sizing, with mentorship of junior analysts and contribution to production-ready testing and data acquisition systems.