Orbit Fab's mission is to create the foundational infrastructure that will fuel a bustling in-space economy, capable of sustaining permanent jobs in space. 

Today, satellites cannot be refueled, which severely constrains their mobility and inhibits the development of economic activities in space. 

Orbit Fab breaks the single-use paradigm, pioneering our Gas Stations in Space™ refueling infrastructure and RAFTI™ technology to deliver propellant in space, enabling lower-cost satellite construction, increased maneuverability, precise control, and extended lifespans. The possibilities are unprecedented, opening the doors to unimagined operational strategies and business models. 

Since our establishment in 2018, we have already achieved the successful launch of three tankers to space. With offices in both the US and UK, we are working in close collaboration with partners and customers across the space industry. Orbit Fab is rapidly ramping up capabilities and requires exceptional talent to tackle important challenges. Our roles offer wide ranging opportunities to have a demonstrable impact and enable a bustling in space economy. 

Orbit Fab likes to move fast, break barriers, and change the way space missions work. We're looking for the best minds, backed by a practical can-do attitude. We describe here the skills, qualifications, and responsibilities that we need to have as a team. Aptitude for complex technical challenges and practical experience is key. Your days will consist of electrical avionics hardware design, development, test, and production support to enable an on-orbit propellant supply for the 21st century of space innovation. As an engineer at Orbit Fab, you’ll exercise your practical problem solving for complex space systems. A strong candidate will call upon a breadth of experience developing systems under-budget and on time. 

We describe here the skills, qualifications, and responsibilities that we need to have as a team. You don't need all of them. Your aptitude for complex technical challenges and your practical experience designing/building/coding stuff will trump specific qualification or tools any day! 

 

This is not a management position; we want you to spend your time doing the engineering you are passionate about.  

ROLE 

You would be responsible for developing custom electronics to support a variety of upcoming Orbit Fab missions. You would perform High Reliability Circuit Design, Analysis, Schematic Capture and Layout. Your technical duties will involve owning critical electrical systems designs required to support the development of Orbit Fab electronics. A major emphasis will be on designing electronics specifically for operation in space environments. You would be a mentor on the electrical engineering team and responsible for conducting reviews and sharing best practices. You would be expected to take on system-level electronics scope and support. 

RESPONSIBILITIES 

  • Develop critical electronics for Orbit Fab's technologies. 
  • Architect, plan, and implement electronics for system communication and coordination to meet mission CONOPS. 
  • Implement and test electronics to ensure compliance with systems requirements. 
  • Assist in overall system design and development, providing input to key decisions and reviews from an electrical engineering perspective. 
  • Perform documentation of the structure and functionality of flight electronics. 
  • Directly interact with the customers, both government and commercial. 
  • Manage electrical focused project/tasks and interactions with contractors and vendors to meet the needs of the project. 
  • Lead technical reviews. 
  • Provide mentorship and guidance to junior EE team members 
  • Guide electrical engineering processes and facilitate technical trades across the system. 
  • Identify technical issues and proactively implement resolutions to mitigate schedule and cost impacts. 
  • Identify and interface vendors to carry out spacecraft electrical components selection and planning. 

EXPERIENCE, QUALIFICATIONS, AND CHARACTERISTICS: 

  • Bachelor’s degree or higher in engineering, physics, mathematics, or other related discipline. 
  • 5+ years of demonstrated applicable experience in electronics design and development across multiple projects/programs, including: 
  • Circuit/board design and board bring up. 
  • Experience with performing EEE parts stress and derating analysis. 
  • Experience integrating custom electronics with hardware actuators and sensors and performing hardware-in-the-loop development. 
  • Experience interfacing with firmware engineers to co-develop microcontroller firmware. 
  • Expertise in payload electronics integration and harnessing. 
  • Experience with key design, detailed analysis, and engineering management tools, including Altium and LTSpice for circuit design and analysis. 
  • Experience taking a product from concept phase through prototyping, production, and operation. 
  • Ability and desire to mentor and advise junior team members in a collaborative environment 
  • Experience taking multiple products or multiple iterations of a single product from concept phase through prototyping, test, and operation. 
  • Breadth of experience as an electrical engineer as well as significant experience as a technical authority in one or multiple technical areas within or across EE disciplines including: 
    • Power Electronics 
    • Microcontroller and FPGA systems 
    • Control Systems 
    • Electrical Systems Engineering 
    • Parts Radiation/EEE Parts Analysis 
    • EMI/EMC or Signal Integrity 
    • Electrical Manufacturing 
  • Expertise working in a diverse, multidisciplinary team environment that includes business communication and diverse engineering disciplines.  
  • Excellent oral and written communication skills.  
  • Must be willing and able to work a hybrid schedule (3-5 days a week on site) out of our Lafayette, CO office 

WE'LL BE EXCITED IF YOU HAVE: 

  • Experience or flight design heritage on LEO and/or GEO missions, especially radiation design of boards for these environments. 
  • Experience with communication protocols i.e. SPI, UART, RS422. 
  • Experience with fluid, propulsion, or pressure systems. 
  • Experience with spacecraft and subsystem environment definition (radiation, thermal, EMI/EMC, etc.) and design approaches (at LEO, GEO, and Deep Space). 
  • Experience or flight design heritage with spacecraft and spacecraft subsystem design 
  • Experience with Level 2 Spacecraft Design/EEE-INST-002 or similar standards for spacecraft design 
  • Experience with spacecraft and spacecraft subsystem fabrication, assembly, and test; understanding of qualification, acceptance, and proto-flight verification approaches. 
  • Familiarity with the spacecraft component supply chain and contacts or relationships with vendors cross the supply chain. 
  • Design experience and mission heritage in GEO or deep space missions and a technical authority in design methodology, ramifications, and design selection process for GEO and/or deep space avionics hardware design 
  • 5+ years of experience in satellite design, development, test, and operations. 
  • A Masters, Ph.D., or other advanced degree in engineering, physics, math, or related discipline. 

 

The estimated salary range for this position is $120,000- $145,000

 

Research shows that while men apply to jobs where they meet an average of 60% of the criteria, women and other marginalized people tend to only apply when they meet 100% of the qualifications. At Orbit Fab, we value respectful debate and people who aren’t afraid to challenge assumptions. We strongly encourage you to apply if you feel you would succeed in the role above.

 

Location and Benefits

Orbit Fab is based out of Lafayette, Colorado and all roles are based in Colorado. We offer fully covered benefits, discretionary time off, and flexible work hours.

 

Eligibility

Some job roles may be limited to US Persons (22 CFR 120.62 “U.S. person”).

Orbit Fab Inc does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factor.

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