SlipstreamJobs tracks this role from the company's public career site. Apply directly on the employer's site.
Salary: USD 130,000 - 170,000 / annual
Fortastra designs and delivers resilient, high-performance spacecraft for critical orbital assets and national security space applications. The company integrates advanced autonomy, sensing, and control into systems engineered for reliability, speed, and scale.
You will join Fortastra's Engineering Division as a Senior Thermal & Propulsion Engineer, working at the intersection of propulsion, thermal control, and spacecraft systems. This is a hardware-focused role where you will own the design and implementation of bipropellant propulsion hardware and Thermal Control Systems (TCS) from concept through detailed design, assembly, integration, and flight readiness. The emphasis is on practical, flight-ready hardware rather than pure analysis or simulation.
Key responsibilities include:
- Own end-to-end design of bipropellant propulsion hardware, including thrusters, tanks, valves, regulators, filters, and feed system plumbing
- Architect and implement Thermal Control Systems (TCS) for propulsion and related spacecraft subsystems, focusing on thermal-fluid behavior and hardware-level solutions
- Define fluid and thermal architectures ensuring reliable performance across all mission phases (start-up, steady-state, transients, off-nominal conditions)
- Create detailed CAD models, assemblies, and drawings for propulsion and thermal hardware, including routing, brackets, manifolds, and integration hardware
- Select, specify, and qualify propulsion and thermal components (valves, sensors, heaters, fittings, insulation) and drive supplier engagement and design-for-manufacture decisions
- Work hands-on with technicians and manufacturing partners to build, assemble, and integrate propulsion and TCS hardware into the spacecraft
- Collaborate with systems, structures, avionics, and GNC teams to define interfaces, loads, and constraints
- Support test planning and execution for propulsion and thermal systems, with primary focus on designing robust, testable, flight-ready hardware
Fortastra operates as a small, high-impact team with a culture emphasizing simplicity, accountability, and disciplined execution. The company values talent density over headcount, high autonomy with high ownership, and direct impact over corporate bureaucracy. You will own your systems end-to-end with absolute ownership and responsibility for mission-critical reliability.
Requirements:
- B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or closely related field (M.S. is a plus but not required)
- 5+ years of industry experience working on propulsion and/or thermal-fluid systems for spacecraft, launch vehicles, or similar aerospace hardware
- Demonstrated, hands-on experience designing and developing propulsion hardware, including bipropellant thrusters and feed systems (tanks, valves, tubing, regulators, fittings)
- Experience designing Thermal Control Systems (TCS) for complex aerospace hardware, with practical application of thermodynamics and heat transfer to hardware-level solutions
- Proficiency with CAD tools for mechanical design, layout, and integration of propulsion and thermal hardware
- Strong understanding of fluid dynamics and thermal-fluids as applied to propellant management, feed systems, and thermal control, with bias toward implementable, hardware-centric designs
- Proven ability to take systems from concept through detailed design, fabrication, assembly, integration, and troubleshooting on real hardware
- Preference for engineers who gravitate toward hardware design and build rather than primarily analysis or simulation roles
- Strong communication and collaboration skills in small, fast-moving, highly integrated engineering teams
- 5 days on-site in Torrance, CA required
- U.S. Citizenship required
