Mechanical & Structural Engineer — Space

Orbital is building AI data centers in space. AI compute demand is outgrowing Earth's power grid. Data center builds face 5-12 year grid interconnection queues, water constraints, and mounting community opposition. The physics of space solves this: in orbit, solar power is continuous and ~5x more effective than on Earth, and cooling is free - heat radiates directly into the vacuum. NVIDIA makes the chip. SpaceX provides the launch. The missing piece is a satellite bus designed from the ground up for GPU compute - and that's what we build.

We design and manufacture compute-native satellites, launch them aboard Starship, and operate them in orbit to deliver inference at scale. We're backed by a group of prominent investors including a16z speedrun and founded by Euwyn Poon (previously founded Spin, acquired by Ford - $100M+ revenue, 250,000 vehicles, 1,800 employees).

Our first mission, Pathfinder, launches in 2027. This is a role on the founding engineering team. You'll be one of our first engineers, owning an entire discipline of the spacecraft, reporting directly to the founder.

About the Role You’ll own the physical satellite - the primary structure, the deployable mechanisms, and the launch-to-orbit transformation that makes orbital compute possible. Our production satellite is essentially a small power plant housing GPUs. The main structures are solar arrays and a deployable radiator panel that must fold into a launch fairing, survive launch, and unfold reliably in orbit. Designing these structures - and the mechanisms that deploy them - is one of our key engineering problems. You’ll work shoulder-to-shoulder with our other founding engineering team members to take our first satellites from concept through design, integration, test, and flight.

Responsibilities Own the satellite’s primary structure and structural architecture across our mission roadmap (Pathfinder -> Orbital-1)

Design the deployable solar array and radiator mechanisms - stowage, deployment, latching, and on-orbit reliability

Run structural analysis: FEA, modal analysis, launch loads, random vibration, shock, and stowed/deployed configurations

Define the mechanical integration of the GPU compute payload and its interface to the bus

Own mass properties, CG, and SWaP budgets across the spacecraft

Interface with partners and select component vendors, test labs, and fabrication shops

Take hardware through environmental test campaigns (vibration, TVAC support, deployment testing)

Establish mechanical engineering practices, tooling, and processes as we stand up in-house manufacturing

Qualifications 5+ years of spacecraft mechanical and/or structural engineering experience

Hands‑on experience with deployable structures - solar arrays, antennas, radiators, booms, or similar mechanisms

Experience with ABAQUS, ANSYS, or NASTRAN

Strong fundamentals in structural FEA, launch and vibration loads, and materials (CFRP, aluminum, titanium)

Demonstrated ability to take a design from concept through fabrication, integration, and test

Comfort operating in an early-stage environment with imperfect information and rapid iteration

A first-principles, hands‑on builder - you’d rather own the whole problem than a narrow slice

Preferred Skills Experience with roll‑out or composite-substrate solar arrays (ROSA-class or similar)

Background at SpaceX, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Boeing or comparable

Experience with high‑power‑density spacecraft or large deployable structures

Prior founding-team or early-startup experience

Familiarity with design-for-manufacturing and serial satellite production

Pay range and compensation package Base salary: Commensurate with experience

Equity: Meaningful founding equity

Benefits: Medical, dental, and vision - 100% employee-covered

PTO: Unlimited; no set hours

Location: Los Angeles - Arts District office

#J-18808-Ljbffr