Senior Thermal Engineer: Fluids & AI Satellite Cooling

SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES CORP; Bastrop (TX); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

SpaceX is seeking a Sr. Thermal Engineer (Fluids Analysis) to join the Starmind team in Bastrop, TX.

You will own conjugate heat-transfer and thermal-fluid analysis for cold plates, heat exchangers, and radiator channels on high‑performance satellite hardware. You will develop and size the cooling loop network (flow split, pressure budget, loop ΔT) and co-evolve geometry with mechanical and test teams to deliver manufacturable, reliable cooling solutions for space environments.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical, aerospace, or a related engineering discipline.
• 5+ years of professional experience in fluids, CFD, or thermal analysis.
• Experience with high‑performance cooling hardware and design.

Responsibilities

• Own conjugate heat-transfer and thermal-fluid analysis of high-performance cold plates, heat exchangers, and radiator channels for STARMIND satellites
• Own the system 0-D/1-D thermal-fluid network that sizes and balances the cooling loop: flow split, ΔP budget, loop ΔT, pump operating point
• Drive cooling-loop architecture trades with hardware and vehicle-level thermal teammates
• Co-evolve geometry, materials and processes with hardware owners to find mass-producible, efficient thermal solutions
• Predict component and system performance under wide range of flow and thermal conditions
• Own pre-test prediction, test design, and model-test correlation for fluid component and integrated thermal tests
• Automate analysis workflows for re-running trades as designs and boundary conditions change

Skills

Conjugate heat transfer

Thermal-fluid analysis

CFD

Heat exchanger design

Python scripting

Thermal-network modeling

Manufacturing collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in mechanical/aerospace engineering

Tools

STAR-CCM+

ANSYS Fluent/CFX

Siemens NX

Icepak/Flotherm

Job description

SpaceX is seeking a Sr. Thermal Engineer (Fluids Analysis) to join the Starmind team in Bastrop, TX.

You will own conjugate heat-transfer and thermal-fluid analysis for cold plates, heat exchangers, and radiator channels on high‑performance satellite hardware. You will develop and size the cooling loop network (flow split, pressure budget, loop ΔT) and co-evolve geometry with mechanical and test teams to deliver manufacturable, reliable cooling solutions for space environments.