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Salary: USD 140,000 - 170,000 / annual
Outpost is an orbital logistics company building reusable Earth-return vehicles (CarryAll family) that enable in-space manufacturing, on-orbit warehousing, and rapid global delivery. The company's vehicles return payloads of 200 kg to 10 metric tons, land within 10 meters of target, and are refurbished for multiple missions. Demand is validated through defense and civil agreements with growing government and commercial customers.
The Mission Engineering team defines how each Outpost mission flies, from launch integration and on-orbit operations through deorbit, reentry, descent, and recovery. This role establishes the payload engineering discipline within the team, working directly with structures, thermal, avionics, harnessing, and integration/test engineers.
Key Responsibilities:
- Define payload accommodations for each CarryAll vehicle, including usable volume, mass/center-of-gravity limits, mechanical load paths, power, data, and environmental control capabilities
- Develop and maintain the Outpost standard payload interface, covering mounting patterns, fasteners, adapters, connectors, and electrical definitions
- Author and maintain Payload User Guide, Interface Control Documents (ICDs), and requirements/verification matrices
- Design bespoke payload bays, enclosures, brackets, and adapter structures from concept through detailed design and verification
- Define and verify payload environment across all mission phases: launch loads, vibration, shock, thermal, vacuum/pressure, radiation, reentry deceleration, and landing loads
- Specify payload environmental control approaches including thermal conditioning, pressurization, humidity, and contamination control
- Define payload electrical interfaces with avionics and harness teams, including connector selection, harness routing, grounding, and EMI/EMC
- Serve as primary technical point of contact for payload customers, translating needs into requirements and leading interface working groups and design reviews
- Support mission feasibility assessments and customer proposals with payload accommodation trades
- Plan and support payload integration, fit checks, environmental testing, and post-recovery de-integration
- Establish payload integration processes, handling procedures, and documentation standards for multiple concurrent missions
Requirements:
- Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or related field
- 5+ years of experience designing, integrating, or qualifying spacecraft, payload, or launch vehicle hardware
- Demonstrated understanding of space environment effects on hardware: launch loads, vibration, shock, thermal cycling, vacuum, outgassing, radiation
- Experience designing flight structures, mounting hardware, or enclosures from concept through drawing release using CAD tools with GD&T knowledge
- Working knowledge of electrical interfaces: flight connector selection, harness design/routing, pinout definition, grounding
- Experience authoring or managing ICDs, requirements, and verification plans
- Familiarity with structural and thermal analysis to define requirements and review results
- Clear written and verbal communication with direct customer and external partner engagement
Preferred Experience:
- In-space manufacturing, microgravity research, or biopharmaceutical processing hardware
- Responsible engineer role for hosted or customer-furnished payload through flight
- Reentry, return, or recovered payloads including post-landing retrieval and handover
- Environmental test campaigns and standards (GSFC-STD-7000 GEVS, SMC-S-016)
- Pressurized enclosures, active/passive thermal control, or payload conditioning systems
- Contamination control and cleanroom operations (ISO Class 7 or better)
- Launch vehicle or rideshare payload interfaces and user guides
