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Eon, backed by Andreessen Horowitz, is building a space-based data transport network using free-space laser links in medium Earth orbit (MEO) to move enterprise data between points on Earth. The company delivers multi-Tbps capacity network infrastructure through advanced optics and unique constellation design.
As Thermal Engineer for Payload & Optical Terminal, you own thermal design and analysis across the ground terminal, bench, and flight payload as the space segment comes online. Your core mission: maintain sub-micron optical alignment by controlling thermal drift across high-power EDFAs, modem electronics, and precision optics in a single assembly. Thermal stability is a first-light problem, not an afterthought.
You will design and analyze thermal systems for the optical terminal and bench immediately, extending to the flight payload and real deployment sites as the program scales. You partner closely with optomechanical and optical design teams on structural-thermal-optical (STOP) behavior, and with amplifier and electronics engineers on heat loads and thermal interfaces. You own the thermal environment across real-world deployment sites, build the roadmap from demonstrator to field- and orbit-survivable terminal, and establish thermal budgets for the payload.
You will build thermal models, make calls on incomplete data, defend and revise your work, and spend meaningful hands-on time in the lab correlating models to test data. This is a lean, founder-led environment with no program office or requirements bureaucracy—you own your piece of the system and live with the consequences of your trades. You will have real lab and equipment budget and genuine ownership from day one.
Required: thermal design and analysis depth with fluency in tools like Thermal Desktop, ANSYS, or COMSOL; structural-thermal-optical reasoning; electronics and high-power-component cooling expertise; hands-on thermal test and model correlation; degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace, or physics plus Python, MATLAB, or similar modeling skills. Bonus: spacecraft or payload thermal experience (vacuum, radiative, thermal-vacuum test), optical-system or precision-instrument thermal control, high-power laser or fiber-amplifier cooling, or deployed field-hardware thermal background.
