Spaceflight Mechanisms Engineer – Deployments & Actuation

AST SpaceMobile; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

AST SpaceMobile is seeking a Mechanisms Flight Engineer to verify and support deployment and actuation systems for spacecraft in a hands‑on lab and flight environment. You will verify command/telemetry paths, motor drive performance, and sensor feedback as part of end‑to‑end mechanism validation before flight.

The role focuses on flat sat mechanisms, HDRMs, gimbaled systems, and integration with control systems, requiring strong troubleshooting, scripting, and test‑automation skills to ensure

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or a related engineering discipline.

Responsibilities

• Build, configure, and maintain the mechanism drive and control representation on the flat sat, including harness routing, connector integration, motor drivers, actuator electronics, release‑device fire circuits, and position/feedback sensors.
• Perform bring‑up, functional checkout, and troubleshooting of mechanism drive electronics and control paths, including motors, position sensors, peripheral devices, and HDRM circuits.
• Develop, execute, and maintain automated and manual procedures for mechanism functional verification, including deployment, actuation, and gimbal‑pointing activities.
• Create and utilize scripting and test automation tools to improve test repeatability, efficiency, and verification coverage.
• Execute flight operations procedures for mechanism deployments and actuation events, including commanding mechanisms, monitoring telemetry, validating timelines, and verifying mode transitions.
• Rehearse and validate commissioning, deployment, and on‑orbit actuation events in the flat sat environment.
• Reproduce on‑orbit mechanism conditions in the laboratory to support anomaly investigation, troubleshooting, and resolution.
• Verify mechanism electrical interfaces against ICDs, schematics, and engineering requirements, including continuity, pinout verification, power distribution, motor phases, sensor signals, and HDRM circuitry.
• Instrument and monitor mechanism performance using laboratory test equipment including oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, DMMs, programmable power supplies, and data loggers.
• Capture and analyze telemetry and test data, including motor current signatures, heater and RTD data, switch states, and deployment timing metrics to assess mechanism performance and health.
• Support real‑time mission operations during deployment and actuation activities by monitoring telemetry, executing procedures, and providing hardware‑informed engineering support during critical mission events.
• Maintain configuration control of flat sat hardware, software, and testbed builds to ensure accurate representation of flight configurations and document all deltas.
• Collaborate closely with Mechanisms, Avionics, Software, Integration & Test, Systems Engineering, and Flight Operations teams to close verification activities and resolve technical issues.

Skills

Python scripting

Mechanisms control

Electrical troubleshooting

Test automation

Reading schematics

Documentation practices

Team collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in electrical/mechanical/aerospace engineering

Tools

Oscilloscopes

Logic analyzers

Digital multimeters

Programmable power supplies

Git

Job description

AST SpaceMobile is seeking a Mechanisms Flight Engineer to verify and support deployment and actuation systems for spacecraft in a hands‑on lab and flight environment. You will verify command/telemetry paths, motor drive performance, and sensor feedback as part of end‑to‑end mechanism validation before flight.

The role focuses on flat sat mechanisms, HDRMs, gimbaled systems, and integration with control systems, requiring strong troubleshooting, scripting, and test‑automation skills to ensure