Spacecraft Analyst

About Inflection Space Systems

Inflection Space Systems is redefining how spacecraft are designed and manufactured. The company was founded on the belief that humanity’s future in space will be defined by scale: tens of thousands of spacecraft operating across many orbits to unlock abundance for humanity. Inflection exists to make this scale real, by mass manufacturing spacecraft using the same supply chains and technologies already utilized by established, high-volume industries. If you are passionate about the industrialization of space, an expert in your field, and not afraid to get your hands dirty, Inflection may be the place for you.

About the role

Inflection is seeking an experienced spacecraft analyst to own thermal and structural analysis and guide spacecraft design decisions. This role reports directly to the CTO. This is a full-time, onsite role based out of Inflection’s HQ in Los Angeles, CA.

What you'll do

• Own spacecraft thermal and structural analysis, from requirements through flight hardware qualification and test.
• Build and maintain thermal and finite element models for spacecraft, subsystems, and components.
• Evaluate on-orbit temperatures, launch loads, vibration responses, and structural margins.
• Manage analysis and environmental test campaigns.
• Define test requirements and correlate models to test data; diagnose and resolve discrepancies.
• Guide practical design changes with other engineers.
• Support on-orbit spacecraft operations.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of thermal and/or structural analysis experience supporting the design, fabrication, and test of complex hardware.
• Experience in heat transfer, stress analysis, structural dynamics, and numerical modeling.
• Experience with spacecraft thermal and structural environments, thermal analysis tools, and FEA.
• Hands-on test support and model correlation skills, with demonstrated ownership from initial analysis through test campaign execution and model correlation.
• The ability to get hands-on, and an appetite to learn new things.