Senior Aerothermal Analysis Engineer

Cowboy Space; Seattle, San Carlos (WA, CA); On-site; CAD 167,000 - 251,000; Full time

Job summary

Cowboy Space Corporation seeks an Aerothermal Analysis Engineer to lead predictions of aerodynamic heating on our launch vehicle, from ascent to re-entry. You will drive boundary conditions for external structures and TPS sizing while coordinating with aero, structures, and propulsion teams.

The role requires strong aeroheating experience, CFD proficiency, and a track record of documenting results for design reviews. Location options include Seattle, WA or San Carlos HQ.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field.
• 3+ years of aeroheating analysis experience for launch/re-entry/hypersonic systems.
• Proficiency with aeroheating tools (MINIVER, UNLATCH, or equivalent).
• Experience with viscous CFD solvers for high-speed, high-temperature flows (DPLR, LAURA, US3D, or equivalent).
• Strong understanding of hypersonic aerodynamics, boundary layer physics, and convective/radiative heat transfer.
• Demonstrated ability to develop aeroheating databases with uncertainties and margins.
• Experience supporting design reviews and authoring technical documentation.

Responsibilities

• Produce high-fidelity aerodynamic pressure and heating environments for ascent and re-entry trajectories.
• Set up and post-process CFD simulations to characterize heating rates and pressure distributions.
• Collaborate with TPS and structures teams for material sizing and margins.
• Develop aeroheating databases with uncertainty bands and design factors.
• Plan and correlate ground tests (arc-jet, wind-tunnel) with analyses.
• Coordinate with multi-disciplinary teams to ensure aeroheating constraints are captured in design.

Skills

Aerospace engineering

Aeroheating

CFD

Hypersonic physics

Design reviews

Uncertainty analysis

Education

Bachelor's degree in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering

Tools

MINIVER

UNLATCH

DPLR

LAURA

US3D

FIAT

CHAR

Python

MATLAB

Job description

About Cowboy Space Corp:

Cowboy Space Corporation is solving the global energy crisis by building the infrastructure for abundant, resilient space-based solar energy. We are tackling one of humanity’s most complex engineering challenges with a world-class team dedicated to delivering a revolutionary power platform. Cowboy Space Corporation is transforming how civilization powers, computes and connects - from orbit to Earth.

Background

Cowboy Space Corporation is building the infrastructure to power and connect the orbital economy. Our modular, scalable satellites collect sunlight in Low Earth Orbit to enable multiple integrated applications: transmitting energy via infrared lasers (space-to-earth and space-to-space), powering on-orbit high-performance computing clusters (GPU/TPU), and providing secure, high bandwidth optical data transport. Current energy and data systems rely on complex logistics and outdated infrastructure. Cowboy Space Corporation overcomes these challenges by enabling direct, on-demand, secure, and scalable energy distribution and data processing from space. This will revolutionize how we operate in orbit and on Earth, supporting the rapidly expanding space industrial base, ISAM (In-Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing) operations, remote regions, and military bases. Baiju Bhatt founded Cowboy Space Corporation in 2024. Inspired by his father’s work with NASA Langley Research Center, Baiju earned his B.S. in Physics and M.S. in Mathematics at Stanford before co-founding Robinhood, now a public company that has helped over 20 million Americans access the financial system. Cowboy Space Corporation has raised ~$365 million from Index Ventures, Interlagos, Construct Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, NEA, and others. This is an ambitious mission that demands extraordinary talent. Cowboy Space Corporation’s team has worked at places like SpaceX, Blue Origin, Stoke Space, Astranis and NASA, and is based in San Carlos, CA. If you're ready to solve complex technical challenges and help build the most important energy company in the world, we want to hear from you.

The Role

As an Aerothermal Analysis Engineer you will be the technical lead for predicting and managing the aerodynamic heating environments on the external surfaces of our new launch vehicle. This role will focus on predicting and characterizing the aerothermal environments experienced during ascent and re-entry, driving the boundary conditions that define the vehicle’s external structures, including the main substrates and the required thermal protection system (TPS). This role can be located in Seattle WA or at our HQ in San Carlos.

Responsibilities

• Environment Definition: Generate high-fidelity aerodynamic pressure and heating environments, for nominal and off-nominal conditions, for launch vehicle’s ascent and re-entry trajectories using engineering-level tools and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) codes.

• CFD Modeling & Simulation: Set up, execute, and post-process viscous, reacting-flow CFD simulations to characterize surface heating rates, pressure distributions, and boundary layer transition.

• TPS Sizing & Margin Management: Work closely with TPS and structures engineers to translate aeroheating predictions into material selection, sizing, and margin assessments.

• Aerothermal Database Management: Develop, maintain, and version-control the aeroheating database used across vehicle design cycles; define uncertainty bands and apply appropriate design factors.

• Test Planning & Correlation: Define ground-test requirements for arc-jet, wind-tunnel, and flight instrumentation; correlate analytical predictions to test data and update models accordingly.

• Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration: Coordinate with aerodynamics, structures, thermodynamics, propulsion, and systems engineering teams to ensure aeroheating constraints are properly captured in vehicle requirements and design.

• Documentation & Reporting: Author technical reports, design review packages, and analysis notes that clearly communicate aerothermal results, assumptions, and uncertainties to internal and external stakeholders.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field.

• 3+ years of experience in aeroheating analysis for launch vehicles, re-entry vehicles, or hypersonic systems.

• Proficiency with engineering-level aeroheating tools (e.g., MINIVER, UNLATCH, or equivalent).

• Experience with viscous CFD solvers applicable to high-speed, high-temperature flows (e.g., DPLR, LAURA, US3D, or equivalent).

• Strong understanding of hypersonic aerodynamics, boundary layer physics, and convective and radiative heat transfer.

• Demonstrated ability to develop and maintain aeroheating databases with defined uncertainties and design margins.

• Experience supporting design reviews and authoring technical documentation.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s or PhD in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related discipline.

• 5+ years of experience performing aeroheating analyses for launch vehicles, re-entry vehicles, or hypersonic platforms, including flight-certified programs.

• Hands-on experience with arc-jet or high-enthalpy wind-tunnel testing and test-to-analysis correlation.

• Familiarity with radiative heat transfer in high-temperature shock layers and ablative TPS response modeling (e.g., FIAT, CHAR).

• Experience with Python or MATLAB scripting for automated post-processing of CFD and aeroheating databases.

• Strong analytical skills and ability to drive design decisions under uncertainty across multi-disciplinary teams.