Hardware Development Engineer
Vast SpaceForge robust structural components for Vast Space's Haven Station. As a Hardware Development Engineer, you'll work on precise mechanical systems that ensure the safety and functionality of our space stations. You’ll machine parts to tight tolerances, fabricate load-bearing structures, and test assembly lines with 6-axis precision robots. Your designs will be crucial for maintaining torque specs and ensuring weld beads meet exacting standards. This is where artificial-gravity human-rated space stations get built.
View original listingAbout This Role
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 looking for a Mechanical Engineer, reporting to the Manager, Structures Design, to to support the development of the systems that will be required for the design and build of artificial-gravity human-rated space stations.
This role blends mechanical and systems engineering with human-factors-driven product development to shape the environments where astronauts will live and work aboard our stations.
This will be a full-time, exempt position located in our Long Beach/Mojave location.
Responsibilities:
- Support end-to-end design, development, and integration of in-flight equipment—from concept and requirements through analysis, selection, qualification, manufacturing readiness, and flight verification.
- Support packaging layouts for cargo equipment - help optimize equipment placement to meet volume, mass, accessibility, and center-of-gravity constraints.
- Contribute to requirements definition, participate in trade studies, and support decision-making with clear engineering rationale.
- Support qualification and acceptance testing for in-flight equipment. Help design test fixtures, and participate in testing activities (off-gassing, flammability, mechanical loads, EMI/EMC, environmental exposure).
- Create detailed CAD models, engineering drawings, analysis reports, test plans, and concepts of operations; support hardware through manufacturing/procurement, test, integration, and verification.
- Participate in human-in-the-loop evaluations, mockups, packing studies and fit checks.
- Collaborate cross-functionally with teams (Flight Surgeons, Food Scientists, Thermal, ECLSS, Avionics).
- Help ensure hardware, packaging, and stowage solutions meet mission requirements, human factors and safety standards.
Minimum Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
- 2+ years of mechanical design and analysis experience, including development of mechanical components, systems, or safety-critical equipment.
- 2+ years of experience with CAD and FEA tools.
Preferred Skills & Experience:
- Experience with spaceflight hardware or safety equipment in regulated or high-reliability domains.
- Hands-on experience supporting environmental testing (structural, random vibration, thermal, EMI/EMC).
- Exposure to aerospace, medical, or high-reliability packaging systems.
- Familiarity with flexible packaging, barrier materials, or food-grade polymers.
- Ability to participate in trade studies using first-principles reasoning.
- Experience collaborating on an engineering or project team.
- Ability to use data and analysis to support decision-making.
- Experience supporting hardware from concept through design, build, integration, and verification.
- Strong communication skills; ability to work effectively across teams (avionics, materials, human factors, structural, safety, procurement).
- Comfort working in ambiguity; ability to move fast, take initiative, and deliver under tight schedule constraints.
- Strong organizational skills with good documentation practices, attention to detail, and the ability to track information accurately across projects.
Pay Ranges:
- Mechanical Engineer I : $84,200 - $108,780
- Mechanical Engineer II : $110,000 - $142,000
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
Requirements
- This role blends mechanical and systems engineering with human-factors-driven product development to shape the environments where astronauts will live and work aboard our stations.
- This will be a full-time, exempt position located in our Long Beach/Mojave location.
- Responsibilities:
- Support end-to-end design, development, and integration of in-flight equipment—from concept and requirements through analysis, selection, qualification, manufacturing readiness, and flight verification.
- Support packaging layouts for cargo equipment - help optimize equipment placement to meet volume, mass, accessibility, and center-of-gravity constraints.
- Contribute to requirements definition, participate in trade studies, and support decision-making with clear engineering rationale.
- Support qualification and acceptance testing for in-flight equipment. Help design test fixtures, and participate in testing activities (off-gassing, flammability, mechanical loads, EMI/EMC, environmental exposure).
- Create detailed CAD models, engineering drawings, analysis reports, test plans, and concepts of operations; support hardware through manufacturing/procurement, test, integration, and verification.
- Participate in human-in-the-loop evaluations, mockups, packing studies and fit checks.
- Collaborate cross-functionally with teams (Flight Surgeons, Food Scientists, Thermal, ECLSS, Avionics).
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