Senior Satellite Thermal Engineer – LRU Design - TeraWave Verified today

Role Overview

Blue Origin is seeking a Senior Satellite Thermal Engineer to serve as the thermal Responsible Engineer for one or more TeraWave satellite Line Replaceable Units (LRUs). You will hold end-to-end thermal responsibility from requirements definition and design concept through analysis, test, qualification, and production release. You own the thermal performance of your LRU, define its thermal interfaces with the rest of the vehicle, and are accountable for its performance across the full mission life.

TeraWave is a revolutionary satellite communications network delivering symmetrical data speeds of up to 6 Tbps, using a multi-orbit constellation of optically interconnected LEO and MEO satellites. Your thermal solutions must be robust, manufacturable, and cost-conscious for constellation-scale production.

Responsibilities

• Serve as thermal Responsible Engineer for one or more TeraWave LRUs, owning thermal performance from requirements through qualification and production release
• Define LRU-level thermal requirements and thermal interface definitions in coordination with systems, mechanical, and satellite-level thermal teams
• Develop detailed thermal models using Thermal Desktop, SINDA/FLUINT, or equivalent tools, covering conduction, radiation, and convection
• Perform transient and steady-state thermal analyses to validate LRU performance under mission profiles, including peak duty cycles, eclipse transitions, and worst-case environmental conditions
• Drive thermal design trades including radiator sizing, heat pipe routing, cold plate integration, thermal interface material selection, and heat spreader design
• Collaborate with mechanical, electrical, and packaging engineers to integrate thermal constraints into LRU enclosure design, PCB layout, and component placement
• Develop thermal loads from first principles, literature, and test data; maintain analysis inputs, models, and results per Blue Origin standards
• Support thermal vacuum testing, model-to-test correlation, and anomaly investigation and resolution
• Assess and validate third-party thermal models for LRU components and develop correlated simplified models for satellite-level analyses
• Develop thermal control procedures for LRU operations across all spacecraft mission phases

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or closely related field
• 8 or more years of hands-on experience in spacecraft component or LRU thermal engineering or thermal control systems development
• Proficiency with thermal modeling software: Thermal Desktop, SINDA/FLUINT, Ansys Icepak, or directly comparable tool, with demonstrated experience building, running, and correlating models to hardware test data
• Demonstrated experience with spaceborne thermal design, including vacuum environments, radiation heat transfer, and flight hardware qualification
• Hands-on experience with spacecraft thermal testing, including thermal vacuum test setup, execution, data review, and model-to-test correlation
• Must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum

Preferred Qualifications

• Extensive experience with logic-heavy or highly parameterized Thermal Desktop models for complex satellite LRU geometries
• Experience as thermal owner for an electronic box, avionics enclosure, or power electronics LRU through qualification and production release
• Experience with high-rate production manufacturing and test environments, including thermal design optimized for producibility and unit cost at constellation scale
• Experience with component-level thermal fatigue analysis for LRU assemblies subject to thermal cycling
• Knowledge of advanced thermal control technologies including variable conductance heat pipes, loop heat pipes, and phase change materials
• Experience with 3D CAD tools such as Creo, NX, or SolidWorks for geometry import and thermal model integration
• Familiarity with integrated engineering tools, knowledge capture systems, and rapid development processes
• Strong written and verbal technical communication skills with demonstrated ability to author thermal analysis reports, interface control documents, and test plans independently

Compensation

Base pay range varies by location: Colorado applicants $144,179.00 - $201,849.90; Washington applicants $156,802.00 - $219,522.45. Other site ranges may differ.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, basic and supplemental life insurance
• Paid parental leave, short and long-term disability
• 401(k) with company match of up to 5%
• Education Support Program
• Stock options for all regular employees working at least 20 hours per week
• Up to four weeks paid time off per year plus up to 14 company-paid holidays
• Eligible bonuses based on individual contributions and company results at company discretion