Staff Electric Propulsion Engineer

Staff Electric Propulsion Engineer

Long Beach, California, United States

At Vast, our mission is to contribute to a future where billions of people are living and thriving in space. Vast is developing next-generation space stations to ensure a continuous human presence in space for America and its allies, enabling advanced microgravity research and manufacturing, and unlocking a new space economy for government, corporate, and private customers. Using an incremental, hardware-rich and low-cost approach, Vast is rapidly developing its multi-module Haven Station. Haven Demo's 2025 success made Vast the only operational commercial space station company to fly and operate its own spacecraft. Next, Haven-1 is expected to become the world's first commercial space station when it launches, followed by additional Haven modules to enable permanent human presence by 2030. Our team is all-in, committed to executing our mission safely and on time. If you want to work with the most talented people on Earth furthering space exploration for humanity, come join us.

Vast is seeking a Staff Electric Propulsion Engineer to own EP system development and integration for a new constellation-ready spacecraft bus — a product line designed to scale to hundreds of spacecraft per year.

This will be a full-time, exempt position located in our Long Beach location.

About the role:

You'll own the electric propulsion system for a constellation spacecraft bus — from thruster selection and qualification through flight integration and on-orbit performance. The EP system handles orbit raising, stationkeeping, and end-of-life deorbit for every satellite in the constellation. You'll work alongside a small, experienced propulsion team that's already making architecture decisions — this role adds depth and bandwidth as the program moves from trades into hardware.

The real challenge is production. This isn't a one-off flight system — you're building an EP subsystem that scales to hundreds of spacecraft per year. Every design decision needs to balance performance against manufacturability, testability, and cost at rate. You'll also be the EP system's interface to the rest of the bus — coordinating power draw with the power lead, thermal dissipation with the thermal lead, and disturbance torques with GNC.

Responsibilities:

• Own EP thruster integration, acceptance testing, and qualification for the spacecraft bus
• Drive thruster selection and procurement — evaluate vendor options, manage performance requirements, oversee delivery
• Own power processing unit (PPU) requirements and development oversight — coordinate with the electronics lead on any in-house builds, or manage vendor PPU procurement and acceptance
• Design the propellant feed system — tanks, valves, pressure regulation, fill/drain provisions, and flow control
• Perform thruster performance characterization — thrust, Isp, efficiency mapping across the operating envelope
• Develop thruster lifetime models and predict degradation for mission-duration operation
• Own EP system integration with the spacecraft bus — mechanical mounting, power interfaces, thermal interfaces, and propellant routing
• Define EP power profiles and coordinate with the power lead to ensure the bus can support thruster operation across all modes
• Coordinate with thermal on thruster and PPU heat rejection — radiator sizing, thermal coatings, duty cycle constraints
• Coordinate with GNC on thrust vector, disturbance torques, and momentum impact during EP maneuvers
• Design orbit-raising, stationkeeping, and deorbit maneuver strategies — delta-V budgets, burn planning, constellation phasing
• Support constellation-scale EP operations — fleet maneuver planning, propellant management across the manifest
• Plan and execute EP subsystem environmental testing — vibration, thermal vacuum, EMI/EMC
• Design for production — the EP system must be assembled, tested, and integrated at rate as the program scales to hundreds of spacecraft per year

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, or a related technical discipline
• 5+ years of electric propulsion development or integration experience
• Hall-effect thruster or ion engine experience — performance testing, plume characterization, lifetime assessment
• Propellant feed system design experience — tanks, valves, flow control for EP systems
• PPU integration experience — power conditioning, thruster control electronics, power interface definition
• EP system-level integration on a flight program — mechanical, electrical, thermal, and propellant interfaces
• Understanding of EP mission design — low-thrust trajectory optimization, orbit-raising strategies, stationkeeping budgets
• Experience with EP environmental qualification — vibe, TVAC, and EMI testing of propulsion hardware
• Comfortable working across subsystem boundaries — power, thermal, GNC, and structures all intersect with propulsion

Preferred Skills & Experience:

• Able to obtain a security clearance
• Experience with high-power EP systems (5kW+ class thrusters)
• Multi-satellite EP system experience — scaling a propulsion design across a constellation build
• Thruster procurement and vendor management experience
• EP plume modeling and spacecraft interaction analysis (sputtering, contamination, charge exchange)
• Experience with xenon or krypton propellant systems
• Design-for-manufacturing experience — optimizing EP assemblies for producibility at rate
• On-orbit EP operations experience — commissioning, performance trending, anomaly investigation

Pay Range: California

$137,760 - $230,472 USD

Compensation and benefits

Base salary will vary depending on job-related knowledge, education, skills, experience, business needs, and market demand. Salary is just one component of our comprehensive compensation package. Full-time employees also receive company equity, as well as access to a full suite of compelling benefits and perks, including: 100% medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and dependents, generous paid time off; up to 20+ days of vacation for exempt staff and up to 10+ days of vacation for non-exempt staff with the ability to cash-out unused vacation annually, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability insurance, life insurance, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, ClassPass credits, personalized mental healthcare through Spring Health, and other discounts and perks. We also take pride in offering exceptional food perks, with snacks, drip coffee & onsite barista, cold drinks, and dinner meals remaining free of charge, and lunch subsidized as part of Vast's ongoing commitment to providing high-quality meals for employees.

U.S. Export Control Compliance Status

The person hired will have access to information and items subject to U.S. export controls, and therefore, must either be a "U.S. person" as defined by 22 C.F.R. § 120.62 or otherwise eligible for deemed export licensing. This status includes U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, lawful permanent residents (green card holders), and asylees and refugees with such status granted, not pending.

Equal Opportunity

Vast is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Vast is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.