{"id":2866506,"url":"https://alion.io/job/star-catcher-spacecraft-mechanisms-engineer","title":"Spacecraft Mechanisms Engineer","company":{"id":1906176,"name":"Star Catcher","domain":"star-catcher.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/star-catcher","size_band":"51-200","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":null},"role":"Aerospace","role_family":"Aerospace","seniority":"middle","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Jacksonville, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":62000,"max_usd":114000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":4013},"experience_years_min":3,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"ANSYS","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-19T16:01:13Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-19","last_verified_at":"2026-10-22T11:15:51Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":2,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":2},"description":"Power the future of Space at Star Catcher\nStar Catcher is building the first energy grid in space to power the orbital economy.\nToday’s spacecraft must generate all of their own power, which caps what they can do and how long they can operate. But what if they could “plug” into a grid, the way buildings do on Earth? Instead of cables and outlets, Star Catcher is building the technology to wirelessly beam energy to spacecraft’s existing solar panels when and where they need it.\nBe an early member of a team building an entirely new energy infrastructure at scale to power the next frontier.\nStar Catcher Industries, Inc., located in Jacksonville, Florida, has an opportunity for a Spacecraft Mechanisims Engineer to support the development of space-to-space power beaming spacecraft and the Star Catcher Network, its orbital power grid. This role will be responsible for design, analysis, and qualification of deployment, release, and pointing mechanisms used on spacecraft, satellites, and other space-related technologies.\nKey Responsibilities\nDesign deployment mechanisms, including hinges, booms, dampers, and latches, from concept through flight drawings utilizing Autodesk Inventor. \nDevelop hold-down and release mechanisms, including release device selection, preload sizing, and separation shock characterization. \nDesign pointing gimbals, and define their actuation, range, accuracy, and resolution requirements. \nPerform torque and force margin analysis across worst-case friction, thermal, and end-of-life conditions. \nAnalyze deployment kinematics and multibody dynamics to verify sequencing, rates, latch-up, and induced loads on the spacecraft. \nSelect bearings, lubricants, and materials for vacuum compatibility, and specify their handling, cleanliness, and outgassing controls. \nPlan and execute mechanism development, qualification, and life test campaigns in ambient and thermal vacuum conditions. \nCreate test fixtures and gravity offload setups for deployment testing. \nSupport fault detection, isolation, and recovery (FDIR) analysis and implementation of mechanism components. \nGenerate and release engineering drawings of parts and assemblies following drafting standards and GD&T. Create and release engineering change orders to document design changes.\nServe as liaison with fabrication shops in support of technical matters for procurement efforts. \nWrite technical documentation supporting the analysis, build, test, and integration of hardware to meet program requirements. Document and present technical data providing justification for design choices. \nPartner with mechanical design, structures, opto-mechanical, avionics, and manufacturing teams to integrate mechanisms into the spacecraft and close interface requirements.\nBasic Qualifications\nBachelor's degree in mechanical or aerospace engineering, or a related field. \nMinimum three years of experience designing spacecraft mechanisms or other relevant industry experience. \nExperience producing CAD models and drawings with GD&T in Autodesk Inventor or equivalent. \nHands-on experience in a shop, lab, or cleanroom environment supporting hardware build, integration, or environmental testing. \nExperience sizing and selecting precision actuators and drivetrains, including stepper or brushless DC motors, harmonic drives, gearheads, and encoders. \nExperience selecting vacuum-compatible bearings and lubricants, and addressing tribology, cold welding, and outgassing in flight mechanism design. \nExperience with hold-down and release devices, including non-explosive actuators or pyrotechnic devices. \nExperience performing torque and force margin analysis of spacecraft mechanisms per NASA-STD-5017 or equivalent. \nCreative problem-solving skills, with the capability to develop innovative solutions to advanced engineering challenges. \nWillingness to follow company standards and procedures.\nPreferred Qualifications\nMaster's or PhD degree in mechanical or aerospace engineering, or a related field.\nMultibody dynamics or kinematic simulation of deployment events. \nExperience with deployable structures such as booms, reflectors, or solar arrays, and the gravity offload techniques used to test them. \nStructural analysis of mechanism components in Ansys Mechanical. \nExperience with pointing or gimbal mechanisms and their interaction with attitude control and pointing jitter. \nFamiliarity with regulations and standards relevant to space missions and operations. \n Ability to effectively communicate and work in a multidisciplinary team setting while prioritizing tasks, multiple projects, and personnel.\nHelp us deploy and scale space infrastructure that will drive our utilization of space forward! We offer a highly competitive benefits package including access to comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, 401(k) retirement plan, life insurance, and paid parental leave, in addition to other benefits.\nStar Catcher is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Star Catcher is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.\nAll offers of employment at Star Catcher are contingent upon results of a thorough background check and your ability to provide proof of eligibility to work in the US.\nTo conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you 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.","description_format":"text","description_chars":5827,"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":["Life insurance","Parental leave","Retirement plans"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Space & Aerospace","Space Services"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-19T17:54:11Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":90,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.903,"p_room":1,"age_days":2,"expected_fill_days":31,"reasons":["conf:2","velocity","win:early"],"computed_at":"2026-10-22T06:10:10Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/star-catcher-spacecraft-mechanisms-engineer","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/star-catcher-spacecraft-mechanisms-engineer.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-22T14:14:14Z","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":13816,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-23T00:00:00Z"}},"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":1906176},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=1906176"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fstar-catcher-spacecraft-mechanisms-engineer"},{"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%2Fstar-catcher-spacecraft-mechanisms-engineer"},{"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%2Fstar-catcher-spacecraft-mechanisms-engineer"},{"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/star-catcher-spacecraft-mechanisms-engineer\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fstar-catcher-spacecraft-mechanisms-engineer"}]}