{"id":338848,"url":"https://alion.io/job/cowboyspace-mechanical-engineer-deployable-radiators","title":"Mechanical Engineer | Deployable Radiators","company":{"id":8929,"name":"Cowboy Space","domain":"cowboyspace.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/cowboyspace","size_band":"501-1000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Ashby","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":75,"open_postings":5,"ghost_share":0.2,"stale_share":0.4,"repost_share":0.2,"time_to_fill_p50_days":48,"computed_at":"2026-10-29T05:49:05Z"}},"role":"Aerospace","role_family":"Aerospace","seniority":"middle","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Kent, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":105000,"max_usd":206000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":162},"experience_years_min":3,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"SolidWorks","optional":false},{"name":"TPU","optional":false},{"name":"ECSS","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-09-02T23:42:21Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-09-02","last_verified_at":"2026-10-30T04:27:44Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":57,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":57},"description":"About Cowboy Space Corp\nMission\nCowboy Space Corporation is solving the global energy crisis by building the infrastructure for abundant, resilient space-based solar energy. We are tackling one of humanity’s most complex engineering challenges with a world-class team dedicated to delivering a revolutionary power platform. Cowboy Space Corporation is transforming how civilization powers, computes and connects - from orbit to Earth.\nBackground\nCowboy Space Corporation is building the infrastructure to power and connect the orbital economy. Our modular, scalable satellites collect sunlight in Low Earth Orbit to enable multiple integrated applications: transmitting energy via infrared lasers (space-to-earth and space-to-space), powering on-orbit high-performance computing clusters (GPU/TPU), and providing secure, high bandwidth optical data transport.\nCurrent energy and data systems rely on complex logistics and outdated infrastructure. Cowboy Space Corporation overcomes these challenges by enabling direct, on-demand, secure, and scalable energy distribution and data processing from space. This will revolutionize how we operate in orbit and on Earth, supporting the rapidly expanding space industrial base, ISAM (In-Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing) operations, remote regions, and military bases.\nBaiju Bhatt founded Cowboy Space Corporation in 2024. Inspired by his father’s work with NASA Langley Research Center, Baiju earned his B.S. in Physics and M.S. in Mathematics at Stanford before co-founding Robinhood, now a public company that has helped over 20 million Americans access the financial system. Cowboy Space Corporation has raised ~$365 million from Index Ventures, Interlagos, Construct Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, NEA, and others.\nThis is an ambitious mission that demands extraordinary talent. Cowboy Space Corporation ’s team has worked at places like SpaceX, Blue Origin, Stoke Space, Astranis and NASA, and is based in San Carlos, CA. If you're ready to solve complex technical challenges and help build the most important energy company in the world, we want to hear from you.\nThe Role\nAs a Mechanical Engineer - Deployable Radiators, you will be the responsible engineer for the large deployable radiators that reject heat from our on-orbit compute payload and integrate the spacecraft’s liquid cooling loop. This is a structures-first, hands-on role: you will own the structural design of the radiator panels, the mechanisms that stow, restrain, and deploy them, and the thermal integration that turns them into a working radiator. You will own this hardware end to end, from concept and analysis through the ground testbeds used to prove it out, qualification, and on-orbit deployment.\nThese are large, load-bearing structures that must survive demanding launch and ascent environments while stowed and then deploy reliably into a stiff, flat radiating surface on orbit. You will work closely with thermal, structures, manufacturing, propulsion, power, avionics, and software teams to deliver an integrated solution. We’re looking for a strong structures and manufacturing background paired with solid mechanism design skills-someone who can move quickly, iterate often, and take full ownership of hardware that directly determines whether our payload survives launch and stays cool in orbit.\nResponsibilities\nOwn the structural design of the deployable radiator panels from concept through flight, sizing them to survive stowed launch and ascent loads and to deploy into a radiating surface.\n\nPerform structural analysis across the full mission profile, including quasi-static and random vibration launch loads and deployed-state dynamics.\n\nDrive design-for-manufacturing of the panels and their assemblies, including joining and/or bonding methods, and work with suppliers to ensure high-quality, scalable production.\n\nDesign the deployment mechanisms that stow, restrain, and deploy the radiators-hinges, latches, and release devices-and the interfaces that carry loads into the spacecraft.\n\nAnalyze deployment kinematics, mechanism loads, restraint release, synchronization, and deployment reliability and margin, and design out jam and hang-up risks.\n\nIntegrate the radiator panels with the liquid cooling loop and perform the thermal design of the radiator-heat rejection, fin efficiency, and thermal gradients-in partnership with the thermal team.\n\nDesign, build, and operate ground testbeds and dev rigs to characterize panels and mechanisms, validate deployment, and de-risk the flight design ahead of qualification.\n\nDevelop and execute deployment, structural static/modal, vibration, thermal-vacuum, and qualification/acceptance test programs to verify flight-worthiness.\n\nAuthor and maintain drawings, interface control documents, analysis reports, test procedures, and release/configuration records.\n\nDiagnose and resolve structural, mechanism, and thermal anomalies during integration and test, applying root-cause analysis and implementing corrective actions.\n\nPartner with thermal, structures, propulsion, power, avionics, and software teams to ensure the radiators integrate seamlessly within the overall spacecraft architecture.\n\nEmbrace a fast-paced development environment, driving quick design cycles, hardware builds, and test campaigns to accelerate the program schedule.\n\nBasic Qualifications\nBS or MS in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field\n\n3+ years of experience designing and analyzing lightweight structures and mechanical hardware in aerospace or other high-performance environments\n\nStrong structural fundamentals: strength, stiffness, and buckling lightweight structures, and bonded and mechanically fastened joints\n\nHands-on experience designing mechanisms such as hinges, latches, springs, and release devices or large structural assemblies\n\nProficiency with FEA for static, modal, and dynamic analysis of structures\n\nExperience taking hardware from concept through build and test, with hands-on integration and test experience\n\nProficiency with CAD (e.g., NX, SolidWorks, or similar)\n\nExperience working in fast-paced, hardware-focused development environments\n\nPreferred Qualifications\nDirect experience designing deployable structures-radiators, solar array substrates, antennas, or booms-including stowed restraint, deployment mechanisms, and latching\n\nExperience designing for space environments (thermal, vibration, vacuum) and background in spacecraft structures, mechanisms, or thermal systems\n\nExperience with bonded and welded assemblies and sheet-metal or machined-frame fabrication\n\nAirframe or launch-vehicle primary-structure experience, including significant ascent loads\n\nFamiliarity with radiator or thermal-control design and thermal-fluid coupling to cooling loops at the spacecraft system level\n\nKnowledge of aerospace standards (MIL-SPEC, NASA-STD, ECSS) and spaceflight hardware qualification and acceptance margins\n\nHands-on experience with prototyping, machining, deployment test rigs, and gravity-offload or ambient deployment testing\n\nStartup or early-stage hardware experience; comfort operating with significant technical ambiguity\n\nCompensation and Benefits\nThe salary range for this position is $150,000 - $200,000 annually. The actual base salary offered will depend on factors such as job-related skills, experience, qualifications, and internal equity.\nEquity in Cowboy Space Corp.\n\nEmployees and their eligible dependents may enroll in medical, dental, and vision insurance\n\n401(k) retirement savings plan\n\nPaid time off\n\n10 paid holidays per calendar year\n\nPaid parental leave\n\nRelocation assistance if applicable\n\nDaily lunch in the office and a fully stocked kitchen with beverages and snacks\n\nITAR Requirements\n Export Control Requirement: To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), applicants must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about ITAR here.\n\nDisclaimer\nThis job description is a summary of the primary duties and responsibilities of the job and position. It is not intended to be a comprehensive or all-inclusive listing of duties and responsibilities. Contents are subject to change at Cowboy Space Corp.’s discretion.\nCowboy Space Corp. is an equal employment opportunity employer. We consider individuals for employment or promotion according to their skills, abilities and experience. Cowboy Space Corp. is committed to complying with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, religious creed, age, national origin, ancestry, physical, mental or developmental disability, sex (which includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and medical conditions relating to pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding), veteran status, military status, marital or registered domestic partnership status, medical condition (including cancer or genetic characteristics), genetic information, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, as well as any other category protected by federal, state or local laws.","description_format":"text","description_chars":9299,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":3,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":true,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Equity","Parental leave","Relocation assistance","Retirement plans","Vision insurance"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":true,"industries":["Satellite Manufacturing","Space Services","AI Compute & Inference"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-05T17:56:40Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":44,"band":"fade","label":"Fading","p_open":1,"p_active":0.799,"p_room":0.55,"age_days":56,"expected_fill_days":48,"reasons":["conf:3","velocity","win:tail"],"computed_at":"2026-10-29T05:49:05Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/cowboyspace-mechanical-engineer-deployable-radiators","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/cowboyspace-mechanical-engineer-deployable-radiators.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-30T05:24:35Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":7625,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-31T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":8929},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=8929"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fcowboyspace-mechanical-engineer-deployable-radiators"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fcowboyspace-mechanical-engineer-deployable-radiators"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fcowboyspace-mechanical-engineer-deployable-radiators"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/cowboyspace-mechanical-engineer-deployable-radiators\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fcowboyspace-mechanical-engineer-deployable-radiators"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":338848}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"cowboyspace.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":338848},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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