Space Nuclear Structures Engineer

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

Job summary

Antares in Torrance, CA, is seeking a Senior Structural Analyst to own structural analysis and dynamics for space nuclear hardware, including reactor, spacecraft, radiator, and support structures. You will build FEMs, perform vibration, modal, and thermal analyses, and drive verification from concept through qualification testing.

You will collaborate with design, thermal, and systems teams to establish load cases, margins, and testing plans, while shaping robust, high-reliability hardware for

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Civil/Structural Engineering, Engineering Mechanics, or a related technical discipline.
• 5+ years of experience in structural analysis, stress analysis, structural dynamics, aerospace structures, spacecraft hardware, launch vehicle hardware, mechanical systems, or a related field.
• Strong fundamentals in solid mechanics, strength of materials, structural dynamics, vibration, fatigue, bolted joints, load paths, stiffness, and stability.
• Experience building and running finite element models for complex mechanical or aerospace hardware.
• Experience analyzing static loads, modal response, random vibration, acoustic environments, fatigue, thermal stress, or coupled structural loads.

Responsibilities

• Own stress analysis and structural dynamics for space nuclear hardware, including component, assembly, subsystem, and integrated vehicle‑level structures.
• Support mechanical design and perform targeted structural design work for brackets, panels, reactor support structures, radiator structures, payload interfaces, test fixtures, and flight‑like development hardware.
• Perform first‑order hand calculations and rapid analytical assessments for stress, stiffness, margin, load paths, bolted joints, welds, bonded joints, fasteners, interfaces, and structural stability.
• Build, correlate, and maintain finite element models at the component, assembly, subsystem, and integrated system level.
• Run detailed structural analyses, including static strength, stiffness, modal, random vibration, acoustic, coupled loads, thermal stress, CTE mismatch, fatigue, and shock‑related assessments.
• Support coupled thermal‑structural analysis for space nuclear systems, including thermal stress, gradients, interface distortion, alignment effects, and thermomechanical compatibility between dissimilar materials.
• Define structural analysis plans, load cases, boundary conditions, assumptions, margins, and verification approaches for flight and development hardware.
• Develop plans for launch loads derivation, test loads definition, qualification strategy, acceptance testing, and structural verification.
• Work with systems and vehicle teams to interpret launch provider environments, derive subsystem‑level loads, and flow loads into design and test requirements.
• Specify vibration, modal, acoustic, and structural development tests for components, assemblies, and subsystems.
• Own vibration test planning and execution, including fixture design, instrumentation planning, test article preparation, test procedure development, data review, anomaly resolution, and post‑test correlation.
• Support procurement, commissioning, and operation of in‑house vibration test capability, including vibe table requirements, facility integration, test safety, instrumentation, and operating procedures.
• Participate in design reviews, test readiness reviews, failure reviews, and customer‑facing technical reviews, clearly communicating structural risks, margins, model assumptions, and verification status.
• Drive root‑cause investigations for structural failures, test anomalies, model‑test correlation gaps, and hardware nonconformances.
• Develop reusable analysis methods, templates, and workflows that improve structural design speed, consistency, and technical rigor across Antares space nuclear programs.

Skills

stress analysis

structural dynamics

FEM analysis

vibration testing

thermal stress

FEA tools

Python

problem solving

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical/Aerospace Engineering or related

Master’s degree in Mechanical/Aerospace Engineering

Tools

NASTRAN

Abaqus

FEMAP

Patran

ANSYS

HyperMesh

Python

Job description

Antares in Torrance, CA, is seeking a Senior Structural Analyst to own structural analysis and dynamics for space nuclear hardware, including reactor, spacecraft, radiator, and support structures. You will build FEMs, perform vibration, modal, and thermal analyses, and drive verification from concept through qualification testing.

You will collaborate with design, thermal, and systems teams to establish load cases, margins, and testing plans, while shaping robust, high-reliability hardware for