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Portal Space Systems is building spacecraft for the next era of orbital operations, with a mission to expand humanity's freedom of movement in space. The Thermal Analysis Engineer will develop and maintain the integrated thermal model for Portal's spacecraft, guiding vehicle design, test, and verification.
This is an individual-contributor role for an engineer with 2–3 years of relevant spacecraft thermal analysis experience. You will lead whole-spacecraft thermal modeling with support from senior technical leadership, working across subsystem boundaries to track power use, predict temperature margins, and correlate the vehicle thermal model using thermal-vacuum test data.
Key responsibilities include:
- Develop, configure, and maintain whole-spacecraft thermal mathematical models in Thermal Desktop and SINDA/FLUINT
- Define and analyze orbital, mission, operational, survival, hot-case, and cold-case thermal environments
- Predict component and structural temperatures, identify low-margin hardware, and recommend thermal design changes
- Analyze conductive and radiative interfaces, heaters, insulation, coatings, radiators, and thermal-control features
- Size heaters and quantify thermal-control power demand
- Track spacecraft electrical power budget in coordination with power-system and subsystem owners
- Develop thermal predictions, instrumentation recommendations, and success criteria for thermal-vacuum and thermal-balance testing
- Own post-test thermal model correlation, comparing predicted and measured temperatures
- Produce thermal analysis reports and verification evidence for design reviews and flight readiness reviews
- Support trade studies, anomaly investigations, and cross-functional design decisions
- Maintain traceability among model inputs, vehicle configurations, analysis results, and verification artifacts
Required qualifications: Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or related technical discipline; 2+ years of professional spacecraft thermal analysis experience.
Preferred qualifications include experience leading thermal models for complete spacecraft, supporting TVAC or thermal-balance testing, Python proficiency, requirements verification experience, familiarity with spacecraft electrical power systems, experience with Thermal Desktop and SINDA/FLUINT, and prior spacecraft flight program support.
This is primarily an individual-contributor role with occasional travel and off-hours support during spacecraft test campaigns. ITAR eligibility required (U.S. persons only).
