Vehicle Fluids Engineer Intern

Relativity Space; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 30,000 - 47,000; Full time

Job summary

Relativity Space is building rockets and turbinary-stage fluids systems at our factory in California. This internship-focused role supports mechanical and systems-level design and analysis for the Stage Fluids team, ensuring reliable operation of Terran R launch vehicle components on-site.

The candidate will engage in structural design, FEA validation, and fluids analysis, collaborating across teams to iterate on solutions and learn through hands-on development in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• Current undergraduate or graduate student in mechanical or aerospace engineering or equivalent.
• Project or industry experience with a commercial CAD package (NX, Solidworks, etc...).
• Project or industry experience with fluid system or component design or operation.
• Ability to thrive with ambiguous and rapidly changing requirements.
• Strong fundamentals in fluid dynamics, fluid mechanics, and thermal analysis.

Responsibilities

• Structural design of secondary structures supporting fluids hardware.
• Mechanical design validation utilizing FEA and/or hand calcs.
• Tube routing design and analysis.
• Fluids system analysis utilizing 1D Flow solvers and hand calcs.

Skills

Fluid dynamics

Fluid mechanics

Thermal analysis

CAD design

Python

SolidWorks

Education

Mechanical or aerospace engineering (undergrad/grad student)

Tools

NX

SolidWorks

Job description

At Relativity Space, we’re building rockets to serve today’s needs and tomorrow’s breakthroughs. Our Terran R vehicle will deliver customer payloads to orbit, meeting the growing demand for launch capacity. But that’s just the start. Achieving commercial success with Terran R will unlock new opportunities to advance science, exploration, and innovation, pioneering progress that reaches beyond the known.

Joining Relativity means becoming part of something where autonomy, ownership, and impact exist at every level. Here, you're not just executing tasks; you're solving problems that haven’t been solved before, helping develop a rocket, a factory, and a business from the ground up. Whether you’re in propulsion, manufacturing, software, avionics, or a corporate function, you’ll collaborate across teams, shape decisions, and see your work come to life in record time. Relativity is a place where creativity and technical rigor go hand in hand, and your voice will help define the stories we’re writing together. Now is a unique moment in time where it’s early enough to leave your mark on the product, the process, and the culture, but far enough along that Terran R is tangible and picking up momentum. The most meaningful work of your career is waiting. Join us.

About The Team

The Stage Fluids team designs and delivers the propellant, pressurant, pneumatics, and other fluid systems that turn structures into functioning rockets. The team has full ownership across design, production, test, and flight, maintaining a holistic view of Terran R, focused not on isolated parts but integrated functionality. Working on-site at the factory means you’re never far from the hardware, enabling rapid iteration and tight feedback loops across design and manufacturing. You won’t just be handed requirements: you’ll be expected to ask the right questions, collaborate with partners across the company, and ultimately find the best solutions for Terran R.

About The Role

In this role, you will support for the mechanical and systems-level design and analysis for the stage fluid systems, ensuring a reliable and efficient operation of our Terran R launch vehicle, including:

• Structural design of secondary structures supporting fluids hardware
• Mechanical design validation utilizing FEA and/or hand calcs
• Tube routing design and analysis
• Fluids system analysis utilizing 1D Flow solvers and hand calcs

About You

• Current undergraduate or graduate student in mechanical or aerospace engineering or equivalent
• Project or industry experience with a commercial CAD package (NX, Solidworks, etc...)
• Project or industry experience with fluid system or component design or operation
• Ability to thrive with ambiguous and rapidly changing requirements
• Strong fundamentals in fluid dynamics, fluid mechanics, and thermal analysis

Nice To Haves But Not Required

• Project or industry experience with FEA software
• Experience utilizing Python or other object-oriented programming languages
• Experience with various manufacturing methods and processes

Equal Opportunity

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.