Senior Thermal Engineer - Fluids for Space AI Sat

SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES CORP; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

SpaceX is seeking a Sr. Thermal Engineer focusing on fluids analysis for the Starmind AI satellites.

You will own conjugate heat-transfer and thermal-fluid analysis of cold plates, heat exchangers, and radiator channels, and maintain the system 0-D/1-D thermal-fluid network. You’ll collaborate with mechanical, manufacturing, and test teams to optimize mass, performance, and producibility, and you will develop automated analysis workflows and pre-test predictions to support design decisions under

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical or aerospace engineering.
• 5+ years of fluids, CFD, or thermal analysis experience.

Responsibilities

• Own conjugate heat-transfer (CHT) 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

CFD

Conjugate heat transfer

Thermal-fluid analysis

Heat exchanger design

Python scripting

Education

Bachelor’s degree in mechanical or aerospace engineering

Master’s degree in mechanical or aerospace engineering

Tools

STAR-CCM+

ANSYS Fluent/CFX

Siemens NX

Icepak

Flotherm

Job description

SpaceX is seeking a Sr. Thermal Engineer focusing on fluids analysis for the Starmind AI satellites.

You will own conjugate heat-transfer and thermal-fluid analysis of cold plates, heat exchangers, and radiator channels, and maintain the system 0-D/1-D thermal-fluid network. You’ll collaborate with mechanical, manufacturing, and test teams to optimize mass, performance, and producibility, and you will develop automated analysis workflows and pre-test predictions to support design decisions under