Spacecraft Mechanisms Engineer

Approach Venture; Golden (CO); On-site; USD 130,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Comprehensive medical/dental/vision

Paid parental leave

3 weeks of paid vacation

10+ paid holidays

Job summary

Approach Venture in Golden, CO is seeking a Spacecraft Mechanisms Engineer to own critical flight hardware from launch through on-orbit operations. This hands-on role takes mechanisms from concept through design, qualification, production, and flight in a small, fast-paced team.

You will design launch restraints, deployment and docking hardware, perform FEA and GD&T, and collaborate across mechanical, GNC, avionics, software, and manufacturing to bring hardware from build to orbit.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering or related technical discipline.
• 4+ years of experience designing aerospace or space hardware.
• Experience taking flight hardware through design, build, test, and qualification.
• Strong fundamentals in mechanical design and interface development.
• Proficiency with 3D CAD and detailed mechanical design, GD&T, and drawings.
• Experience with structural FEA for aerospace hardware.
• Experience with preloaded joints and load-path analysis.
• Hands-on testing in vibration, deployment, or environmental testing.
• Familiarity with launch loads and space environment requirements.
• Ability to work across analysis, CAD, hardware assembly, and testing.

Responsibilities

• Own spacecraft mechanisms from initial architecture through flight qualification and production.
• Design launch restraint, hold-down, release, deployment, docking, and mating hardware.
• Develop preload paths, mechanical interfaces, and structural load paths into spacecraft structure.
• Design mechanisms for reliable operation across launch, vacuum, thermal, shock, vibration, and on-orbit environments.
• Develop docking interfaces with capture envelopes and tolerances.
• Select and integrate actuators, release devices, bearings, and other hardware.
• Perform tolerance analysis, joint analysis, and real-time troubleshooting.
• Develop 3D CAD, drawings, GD&T, and manufacturing documentation.
• Collaborate with GNC, avionics, software, and test engineers on spacecraft-level decisions.
• Own hardware through build, integration, environmental qualification, and flight.

Skills

3D CAD

FEA analysis

GD&T

Launch hardware design

Vibration testing

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering

Tools

Onshape

NX

Creo

SolidWorks

Nastran/Femap

ANSYS

Abaqus

Python

Job description

Spacecraft Mechanisms Engineer - Own Critical Flight Hardware from Launch Through On-Orbit Operations

Golden, Colorado | On-site

Opportunity Summary

Join a well-funded, early-stage space company developing a new class of modular spacecraft and orbital infrastructure. The team is building hardware designed to launch efficiently, operate autonomously, and connect, deploy, and reconfigure in space, enabling spacecraft architectures that are difficult or impossible to build using traditional approaches. As a Spacecraft Mechanisms Engineer, you will own critical mechanical systems across launch, deployment, docking, capture, and on-orbit operation. This is a hands-on hardware role with significant technical ownership. You will take mechanisms from early concepts and analysis through detailed design, qualification testing, production, and flight. The ideal candidate has built real aerospace hardware, understands how mechanisms behave under launch and space environments, and wants the pace and responsibility that comes with a small engineering team preparing hardware for orbit.

About Us

We are a venture-backed space technology startup in Golden, Colorado developing scalable spacecraft systems for next-generation commercial, defense, and space infrastructure applications. The underlying technology has progressed through multiple flight and microgravity demonstrations, and the team is now developing larger, more capable systems designed for operational use in orbit. Engineers work closely across mechanical, GNC, avionics, software, manufacturing, and test, with individual contributors owning meaningful pieces of the spacecraft rather than narrowly defined subsystems.

Job Duties

• Own spacecraft mechanisms from initial architecture through flight qualification and production
• Design launch restraint, hold-down, release, deployment, docking, capture, latching, and mating hardware
• Develop preload paths, hard points, mechanical interfaces, and structural load paths into spacecraft primary structure
• Design mechanisms for reliable operation across launch, vacuum, thermal, shock, vibration, and on-orbit environments
• Develop docking and mating interfaces with appropriate capture envelopes, alignment tolerances, preload, compliance, and structural performance
• Select and integrate actuators, release devices, bearings, connectors, springs, latches, coatings, lubricants, and other mechanism hardware
• Perform kinematic studies, tolerance stack-ups, force and torque margin analysis, and joint analysis
• Conduct structural FEA including modal, quasi-static, random vibration, and mechanism-level load analysis
• Analyze preloaded joints, bonded interfaces, sandwich structures, hard points, and other spacecraft structural interfaces
• Develop detailed 3D CAD, engineering drawings, GD&T, interface definitions, and manufacturing documentation
• Design for repeated operation, wear, contamination tolerance, thermal expansion, and vacuum compatibility
• Develop and execute mechanism development and qualification testing including deployment, vibration, shock, cycle-life, and thermal vacuum testing
• Design test fixtures, instrumentation approaches, and gravity offload systems when requiredWork directly with manufacturing teams and suppliers to move hardware quickly from design into build and test
• Troubleshoot hardware issues through hands-on testing, root-cause analysis, and rapid design iteration
• Partner with GNC, avionics, electrical, software, systems, manufacturing, and test engineers on spacecraft-level decisions
• Own hardware through build, integration, environmental qualification, launch preparation, and flight

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical discipline
• 4+ years of experience designing aerospace, spacecraft, satellite, or similarly demanding mechanical hardware
• Experience taking flight hardware or highly regulated hardware through design, build, test, and qualification
• Strong mechanical design fundamentals with experience developing mechanisms, structural interfaces, or moving assemblies
• Advanced proficiency with 3D CAD and detailed mechanical design
• Strong understanding of GD&T, tolerance analysis, manufacturing drawings, and ASME Y14.5 principles
• Experience performing structural FEA for aerospace hardware
• Experience with preloaded joints, bolted interfaces, load paths, and structural margin analysis
• Hands-on experience supporting vibration, shock, deployment, environmental, or qualification testing
• Working knowledge of launch loads, structural factors of safety, margin reporting, and spacecraft environmental requirements
• Understanding of aerospace materials, fabrication methods, fasteners, surface treatments, and design for manufacturability
• Ability to move between analysis, CAD, hardware assembly, test, and troubleshooting without relying on large support organizations
• Strong cross-functional communication skills and the ability to make engineering decisions with incomplete information
• Ability to work full-time on-site in Golden, Colorado
• Must meet applicable U.S. export control requirements or be eligible to obtain required authorization

Preferred Experience

• Flight experience with spacecraft mechanisms, deployables, separation systems, docking hardware, capture systems, or release mechanisms
• Experience designing hold-down and release mechanisms, non-explosive actuators, preload systems, or launch restraint hardware
• Experience with docking, rendezvous, robotic interfaces, servicing spacecraft, or in-space assembly systems
• Experience with spacecraft primary structures and launch vehicle interface hardware
• Experience with stacked, deployable, or multi-body spacecraft configurations
• Experience designing mechanical interfaces into sandwich panels, composite structures, or thin-wall spacecraft structures
• Experience with bonded joint design and analysis
• Experience with shock response spectrum analysis and release-device-induced shock
• Experience performing statistical tolerance analysis using RSS, Monte Carlo, or similar methods
• Experience designing mechanisms for high cycle counts, repeated mating, or precision alignment
• Knowledge of vacuum tribology including lubrication, coatings, wear, galling, and cold welding
• Experience planning and executing accelerated life testing
• Familiarity with vibration test notching, force limiting, and environmental qualification
• Familiarity with NASA spacecraft mechanism, structural, or environmental verification standards
• Proficiency with Onshape, NX, Creo, SolidWorks, or similar CAD platforms
• Proficiency with Nastran/Femap, ANSYS, Abaqus, or comparable FEA tools
• Experience using Python or MATLAB for engineering analysis and test data processing
• Experience developing test fixtures, gravity offload systems, or mechanism test equipment
• Experience working directly with machine shops, vendors, and aerospace suppliers
• Background in a startup, SpaceX-style development environment, or other organization with rapid build-test-iterate cycles

Why Join Us

• Own meaningful flight hardware rather than a narrowly defined piece of the spacecraft rather than narrowly defined subsystems
• Take designs from a blank sheet through analysis, build, test, qualification, and operation in space
• Join a small technical team where individual engineers have significant influence over spacecraft architecture and design decisions
• Work on hardware that is progressing from demonstrated technology toward larger operational orbital systems
• Operate in a fast-moving environment where engineers are expected to design, build, test, diagnose problems, and iterate
• Work directly alongside engineers across spacecraft structures, GNC, avionics, software, manufacturing, and systems
• Opportunity for long-term ownership through stock options
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Short-term and long-term disability insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid parental leave
• 3 weeks of paid vacation
• 10 or more paid holidays annually

Compensation Details

$130,000 - $170,000