Deployable Structures Test Engineer

We are looking for a Deployable Structures Test Engineer to own the ground deployment test program for E-Space's large deployable antenna structure. This person will design and execute gravity-offload deployment test campaigns, characterize deployment kinematics and force profiles, establish ground-to-flight correlation, and verify deployment repeatability against aperture geometry requirements. This is a specialized role at the intersection of mechanisms, structural testing, and test facility engineering - for someone who has thought carefully about what it actually means to simulate zero-gravity deployment on the ground.

On-site in California or Texas. Hands-on test facility presence is required. Some travel between sites expected.

What you will do:

• Own the deployment test plan for the antenna assembly - from test requirements definition through gravity-offload rig design, test execution, and post-test correlation.
• Design or oversee design of gravity-offload and support fixtures appropriate for large flexible deployable structures, including friction budget analysis and rig compliance characterization.
• Execute deployment tests, capturing deployment force/torque profiles, deployable element tip trajectories, deployment timelines, and deployment-state shape measurements (photogrammetry or equivalent).
• Establish ground-to-flight correlation methodology: characterize offload rig artifacts, derive correction factors, and bound residual uncertainty in flight deployment prediction.
• Verify deployment repeatability run-to-run and characterize sensitivity to deployment sequencing, temperature, and lubricant state.
• Coordinate with the deployment mechanism team to characterize actuator force output and locked-state stiffness/backlash for use as structural dynamics boundary conditions.
• Coordinate with structural subsystem teams to characterize subsystem performance and define an integrated testing campaign.
• Feed deployment test data into the integrated structural model; participate in model-test correlation reviews with the IAS structures analyst.

Required qualifications:

• BS or MS or Ph.D. in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering, or equivalent.
• Experience with deployment or mechanism testing of flight hardware - solar arrays, antennas, booms, or equivalent deployable structures.
• Hands-on experience with gravity-offload test setups for large flexible hardware.
• Experience with force/torque measurement, deployment kinematics instrumentation, and photogrammetry or optical shape measurement.
• Practical understanding of test-to-flight fidelity gaps for deployable structures in 1g.

Preferred qualifications:

• Experience with composite boom deployment mechanisms or wrap-rib/coilable boom hardware.
• Familiarity with friction and lubrication behavior in space mechanisms across temperature ranges.
• Experience contributing to model-test correlation for deployment dynamics simulations.
• Knowledge of TVAC deployment testing and the additional instrumentation challenges it introduces.

Additional Requirements

This is a fast-paced, high-impact environment - flexibility to occasionally work extended hours or weekends during critical periods is expected.