Senior Loads & Dynamics Engineer

About Cowboy Space Corp:
Mission

Cowboy Space Corporation is solving the global energy crisis by building the infrastructure for abundant, resilient space-based solar energy. We are tackling one of humanity’s most complex engineering challenges with a world-class team dedicated to delivering a revolutionary power platform. Cowboy Space Corporation is transforming how civilization powers, computes and connects - from orbit to Earth.

Cowboy Space Corporation is building the infrastructure to power and connect the orbital economy. Our modular, scalable satellites collect sunlight in Low Earth Orbit to enable multiple integrated applications: transmitting energy via infrared lasers (space-to-earth and space-to-space), powering on-orbit high-performance computing clusters (GPU/TPU), and providing secure, high bandwidth optical data transport. Current energy and data systems rely on complex logistics and outdated infrastructure.

Cowboy Space Corporation overcomes these challenges by enabling direct, on-demand, secure, and scalable energy distribution and data processing from space. This will revolutionize how we operate in orbit and on Earth, supporting the rapidly expanding space industrial base, ISAM (In-Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing) operations, remote regions, and military bases. Baiju Bhatt founded Cowboy Space Corporation in 2024. Inspired by his father’s work with NASA Langley Research Center, Baiju earned his B.S. in Physics and M.S. in Mathematics at Stanford before co-founding Robinhood, now a public company that has helped over 20 million Americans access the financial system.

Cowboy Space Corporation has raised ~$365 million from Index Ventures, Interlagos, Construct Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, NEA, and others. This is an ambitious mission that demands extraordinary talent. Cowboy Space Corporation ’s team has worked at places like SpaceX, Blue Origin, Stoke Space, Astranis and NASA, and is based in San Carlos, CA. If you're ready to solve complex technical challenges and help build the most important energy company in the world, we want to hear from you.

Serve as the technical authority for the loads and dynamic environments that define what the vehicle must survive. You'll own the load cases and dynamic models that drive structural sizing across ascent, stage separation, entry, landing, and reuse. As a senior individual contributor, you'll set the methodology, make the judgment calls on where to add fidelity and where to move fast, and raise the bar for the discipline by mentoring engineers and driving decisions across teams: ensuring the vehicle is neither over-built nor under-designed for the environments it actually sees.

• Own the vehicle loads as the discipline lead: quasi-static, transient, and dynamic load cases across ground handling, ascent, separation, entry, landing, and reuse.

• Establish the methods, tools, and standards the loads and dynamics discipline works to.

• Build and maintain structural dynamic models (FEM, modal, coupled loads) and reconcile them with test and flight data.

• Define vibration, shock, acoustic, and random-vibe environments for components, mechanisms, and payloads.

• Perform coupled loads analysis (CLA) and integrate propulsion, aero, GNC, and structural inputs into a consistent load set.

• Deliver clear, timely load sets and interface requirements to structures, mechanisms, and propulsion teams.

• Assess flutter, buffet, slosh, and other aeroelastic/coupled dynamic phenomena.

• Support test planning and correlation—modal surveys, static and dynamic test campaigns—and update models from results.

• Investigate anomalies and reconstruct flight loads from telemetry to improve future load predictions.

• Mentor junior engineers and provide technical guidance across the structures and mechanisms teams.

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, or related engineering field.

• 8+ years of experience in loads, structural dynamics, or vibration analysis for flight hardware or high-performance systems.

• Deep proficiency with finite element modeling and dynamic analysis (modal,…