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Apex manufactures satellite buses (spacecraft platforms) at scale for the commercial space industry. The company combines software, vertical integration, and hardware design to enable payloads ranging from earth observation to communications.
You will be the senior fluids authority on the propulsion module team, owning the complete feed-system design for propellant systems that fly on Apex spacecraft. This is a senior individual contributor role with technical leadership scope across the pressurized fluid architecture.
Key responsibilities include:
- Own propellant feed-system design end-to-end: architecture, schematics, component selection (tanks, regulators, valves, filters, transducers, service valves), and fluidic routing.
- Design pressurized fluid systems to appropriate factors of safety, defining MEOP, proof, and burst requirements and design margins.
- Perform fluids analysis: flow and pressure-drop budgets, transient/water-hammer analysis, feed-pressure and blowdown behavior, filtration, and thermal effects.
- Design tubing, fitting, weld, and braze joints and routing that survive launch and space environments while conforming to vehicle ICDs.
- Define and execute feed-system test campaigns (leak, proof, burst, functional, acceptance testing) and author procedures and GSE requirements.
- Own range safety and pressure-systems compliance (SSCMAN/AFSPCMAN 91-710), including fracture control for pressurized hardware and COPVs, hazard analyses, and flight approvals.
- Support propellant servicing operations from a fluids-design and safety perspective.
- Partner with in-house thruster, cathode, flow controller, and PPU teams to define fluidic interfaces and co-optimize feed systems.
- Work with manufacturing to ensure smooth handoff, improve producibility, cleanliness, and build time at rate.
- Drive design-for-manufacturing and contamination control for serial production.
- Support build, integration, test, and launch campaigns; lead root-cause investigations on fluidic issues.
- Provide technical mentorship to other engineers on feed-system design, testing, and safety.
Requirements:
- Bachelor's degree in mechanical, aerospace, chemical, or related engineering field.
- 6+ years of experience in fluid systems engineering with substantial hands-on work on pressurized fluid or propellant feed systems.
- Deep knowledge of pressurized fluid system design: component selection, routing, joints, and design to MEOP/proof/burst factors of safety.
- Strong fluids analysis skills: flow and pressure-drop, transients/water-hammer, filtration, and thermal-fluid behavior.
- Hands-on experience defining and executing fluid-system test campaigns (leak, proof, burst, functional testing).
- Direct experience with range safety and pressure-systems requirements (SSCMAN/AFSPCMAN 91-710), including fracture control and hazardous operations.
- Demonstrated track record getting fluidic flight hardware through qualification and into space.
- Experience designing to vehicle requirements and conforming to ICDs.
- Must be a U.S. Person (U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual) as defined by ITAR (22 CFR §120.15).
Nice to have:
- Master's degree in related engineering field.
- Experience with both electric propulsion feed systems (xenon/krypton, high-pressure storage and regulation) and chemical propulsion feed systems.
- Experience with composite-overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs) and their fracture control and qualification.
- Experience bringing feed systems or fluidic hardware into serial/high-rate production.
- Experience authoring and executing hazardous operations procedures and obtaining range approvals.
- Familiarity with precision cleaning, contamination control, and propellant compatibility.
- Experience designing and operating fluid GSE for servicing, fill/drain, and test.
