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K2 Space is building the largest and highest-power satellites ever flown, backed by $450M in funding from leading investors including Altimeter Capital, Redpoint Ventures, T. Rowe Price, and Lightspeed Venture Partners. The company is mass-producing advanced satellite platforms designed to capitalize on the era of heavy-lift launch vehicles, with multiple launches planned through 2026 and 2027.
As Senior Propulsion Mechanical Design Engineer, you will own the mechanical design and development of K2's plasma propulsion system—the highest-powered electric propulsion system ever flown. This role sits at the center of a small multidisciplinary team responsible for designing, building, testing, and analyzing all mechanical structures and mechanisms for the propulsion subsystem.
In your first six months, you will define product requirements, create initial design concepts and trade studies, perform preliminary and detailed structural/mechanical analysis, define development test campaigns, and produce development hardware. Over your first year, you will validate designs through prototype iterations and build and qualify flight hardware. Within two years, you will see your hardware fly in space while directly supporting production integration and operations.
Key responsibilities include: owning mechanical design of propulsion modules, critical thruster components, propellant management systems, avionics boxes, secondary structures, and potentially tank development; validating designs across the full lifecycle from concept through production and flight; generating 3D CAD models, fully dimensioned drawings, and interface control documents; performing analysis on test data and making critical go/no-go decisions on hardware performance; developing and executing component and system-level test plans; and managing key propulsion vendors and suppliers through hardware delivery.
This is a hands-on role combining design, analysis, testing, and vendor management in a fast-paced startup environment focused on deep-space access and next-generation satellite capability.
