Test Engineer - Space Solar Hardware

About Starpath

Starpath develops and manufactures the technologies that will enable humans to live on the Moon and Mars. Today, we are building robotic systems that locally produce the essential commodities a lunar civilization will require at extreme scale: water, power, and oxygen. Our ultimate goal is to build and operate a self-sustaining city on Mars.

The Role

The Starlight team is focused on dramatically improving space solar power to support Starpath's core mission and the greater space economy. Starlight manufactures the lowest cost and highest performance space solar ever, which will power the majority of new satellites built on Earth and all of Starpath's equipment on the Moon and Mars.

As Test Engineer, you will be responsible for validating the performance of our solar products in a variety of environmental conditions.

Responsibilities

• Assist activities related to the qualification and acceptance of space solar hardware
• Execute environmental tests according to reference mission specifications (TVAC, vibration, thermal, radiation, etc.)
• Work with the greater solar engineering organization to assess and mitigate risks (FMEA/FMECA-lite, fault trees where useful)
• Support failure analysis, root cause investigations, and corrective/preventive actions
• Partner with Manufacturing on quality controls, acceptance gates, and nonconformance workflows
• Communicate testing rationale and results clearly to stakeholders

Required Qualifications

• B.S. or higher in an engineering discipline
• Experience building/owning hardware
• Strong engineering judgement using first-principles based rationale
• Strong written and verbal communication skills

Preferred Qualifications

• Solar array / power subsystem experience
• Direct experience with environmental testing and/or high-rate manufacturing
• Startup or rapid development program experience

Compensation & Benefits

• Location:
  
  Los Angeles (Hawthorne), CA
• Salary base rate is $80k-$120k/yr, plus equity package; compensation scales with candidate experience
• PTO & health/dental/vision coverage included

EAR REQUIREMENTS:

• To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Equal Opportunity

Starpath is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.