Senior Space Thermal Engineer: Nuclear Propulsion

Antares; Torrance, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 145,000 - 185,000; Full time

Job summary

Antares in Torrance, CA seeks a Senior Space Thermal Engineer to own the thermal design and analysis of a space nuclear vehicle, including reactor, spacecraft, and heat rejection systems. You will develop and validate thermal models against test data to guide architecture decisions and hardware trades.

Collaborate with reactor, fluids, mechanical, test, and systems engineers to define architectures, evaluate configurations, and mature thermal hardware integration from concept through

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical/thermal engineering or related field.
• 5+ years in thermal engineering, thermal analysis, heat transfer, or related hardware development.
• Strong fundamentals in conduction, convection, radiation and transient heat transfer.
• Experience building and validating thermal models with data.
• Experience performing thermal design trades and communicating results to teams.

Responsibilities

• Construct, own, and validate thermal models for reactor core, spacecraft, radiator systems, and integrated vehicle thermal response.
• Anchor thermal models to experimental, analytical, and test data; quantify uncertainty and improve fidelity.
• Identify data gaps and work with tests to define, execute, and interpret required tests.
• Develop and analyze space nuclear thermal management architectures including reactor heat transport and radiators.
• Generate, compare, and downselect heat rejection system configurations across multiple constraints.
• Build system-level models to assess performance, transient response, and integration impacts.
• Create tools and methods for predicting radiator thermalization and system performance.
• Investigate thermal hardware integration approaches (coolant loops, heat pipes, interfaces).
• Support concept development through modeling-driven design trades and first-principles analysis.
• Collaborate with reactor, mechanical, fluids, materials, test, and systems teams to align requirements.
• Produce and review documentation: analyses, validation reports, test plans, trade studies, interfaces.

Skills

Thermal modeling

Python

Git

Spacecraft thermal systems

High-temperature systems

Thermal trade studies

Model validation

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Nuclear Engineering, Thermal Sciences, or related field

Master’s degree or higher (preferred)

Tools

Thermal Desktop

SINDA/FLUINT

OpenTD

ANSYS

COMSOL

STAR-CCM+

Fluent

Job description

Antares in Torrance, CA seeks a Senior Space Thermal Engineer to own the thermal design and analysis of a space nuclear vehicle, including reactor, spacecraft, and heat rejection systems. You will develop and validate thermal models against test data to guide architecture decisions and hardware trades.

Collaborate with reactor, fluids, mechanical, test, and systems engineers to define architectures, evaluate configurations, and mature thermal hardware integration from concept through