Spacecraft Mechanical Engineer

The Spacecraft Mechanical Engineer will lead the design, analysis, integration, and qualification of spacecraft structures, mechanisms, and flight hardware supporting advanced space missions.

Nova Solvers is an advanced engineering company developing spacecraft, avionics, sensing systems, autonomous technologies, and mission-critical solutions for commercial, civil, defense, and national security customers. Our team specializes in transforming complex challenges into innovative, high-performance systems that operate in the most demanding environments. We are passionate about building technologies that enable the next generation of space missions and defense capabilities.

Nova Solvers is seeking an entry-to-junior level Mechanical Engineer to support the design and development of spacecraft, payloads, avionics hardware, and ruggedized electronics systems.

This is a hands-on role spanning spacecraft mechanical design, structures, electronics packaging, VPX chassis, heat frames, thermal management, manufacturing, integration, and environmental qualification.

You will work closely with electrical, systems, manufacturing, and test engineers to take hardware from initial concepts and CAD through analysis, fabrication, assembly, spacecraft integration, qualification, and production.

• Perform hands-on assembly and integration of spacecraft, payload, and avionics hardware, including precision mechanical assembly, fastener installation and torque verification, fit checks, measurements, inspections, and troubleshooting using torque wrenches, calibrated tools, and other mechanical assembly equipment.
• Support mechanical design and configuration of spacecraft, payloads, structures, avionics, and mission hardware.
• Develop spacecraft structural components, panels, brackets, equipment mounts, payload interfaces, enclosures, and mechanical assemblies.
• Design VPX/OpenVPX chassis, heat frames, card cages, rugged electronics enclosures, and conduction-cooled avionics hardware.
• Create detailed 3D CAD models, assemblies, manufacturing drawings, BOMs, and engineering documentation.
• Support spacecraft layout and packaging including avionics, payloads, sensors, harnesses, connectors, and other subsystems.
• Develop mechanical and thermal interfaces between spacecraft structures, electronics, payloads, and other hardware.
• Design thermal paths using heat frames, wedge locks, chassis structures, thermal interface materials, heat sinks, and other thermal management methods.
• Perform mechanical and thermal calculations and support structural and thermal analysis.
• Evaluate designs for strength, stiffness, mass, thermal performance, launch loads, tolerances, manufacturability, and environmental requirements.
• Apply GD&T, tolerance analysis, material selection, fastener selection, and Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DFMA) principles.
• Work directly with machine shops, sheet metal fabricators, thermal solution vendors, and other suppliers from quotation through fabrication and inspection.
• Review vendor feedback, first-article hardware, inspection results, and manufacturing issues and incorporate improvements into designs.
• Support spacecraft and payload assembly, mechanical integration, fit checks, troubleshooting, and hardware modifications.
• Develop fixtures, tooling, and mechanical ground support equipment.
• Support vibration, shock, thermal cycling, and thermal vacuum (TVAC) qualification testing, including test setup, instrumentation, execution, and post-test evaluation.
• Support development of new spacecraft hardware, mechanical products, reusable designs, and internal engineering capabilities.

We are looking for engineers who enjoy solving challenging mechanical problems and taking ownership of flight hardware. Successful candidates are highly collaborative, detail-oriented, and capable of balancing analysis, design, manufacturing, and integration considerations to deliver mission-ready systems.

• B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical field.
• 0–3 years of professional engineering experience.
• Strong fundamentals in mechanics of materials, statics, dynamics, heat transfer, and material properties.
• Proficiency with 3D CAD software such as Solid Works, Creo, NX, or similar.
• Ability to create and interpret mechanical drawings.
• Understanding of mechanical and thermal design fundamentals including structural load paths, conduction, convection, radiation,…