Senior Aerothermal Engineer

Job Description

Reditus space is building the next-generation infrastructure to provide sustainable and scalable access to microgravity. We are developing reusable free-flyer reentry vehicles to enable routine, dependable, and high cadence return from orbit, unlocking new commercial, scientific, national security, and public health capabilities.

The aerothermal team is responsible for predicting the aerodynamics and aerothermal environments our flight vehicles experience during all phases of their missions. Aerothermal engineers use engineering models, simulation, and direct flight testing in order to provide the most accurate predictions in iterative development of evermore reliable and performant vehicle architectures. The team works closely with the GNC (guidance, navigation, and control) team in order to enable them to safely land and recover our vehicles once their mission is accomplished. Moreover the team supports engineers responsible for vehicle structures, avionics, and propulsion during their design efforts. Aerodynamics engineers are expected to have a clear understanding of the flow fields experienced by our vehicles through the various flight regimes, from subsonic through hypersonic, and apply this understanding while they operate our prediction tools.

As a Senior Aerothermal Engineer, you will be responsible for the aerodynamic and aerothermal characterization of reentry vehicles from early design through flight validation. This role spans the full development lifecycle — from early design and analysis through ground testing and ultimately flight data correlation.

Responsibilities

• Own the development of aerodynamic models across all flight regimes, from free-molecular through hypersonic, supersonic, and subsonic flow.
• Prepare, mesh, run, and post process CFD models to characterize vehicle flow fields, aerodynamic coefficients, and stability behavior
• Develop aerodynamic databases for trajectory simulation and Monte Carlo analysis
• Develop trajectory-coupled aerothermal environments, including stagnation, distributed, and shock-interaction heating
• Actively shape vehicle geometry and aerodynamic stability through analysis and design iteration to improve and optimize vehicle performance and reliability
• Predict heating rates and heat loads across the vehicle throughout atmospheric entry
• Own TPS sizing, material specification, and margin development for both ablative and reusable TPS solutions
• Perform thermal material response modeling, including ablation and recession behavior
• Develop full-vehicle thermal models capturing external heating, conduction through structure, and internal temperature response
• Compare pre-flight aerodynamic and aerothermal predictions to flight data and refine models predictive accuracy accordingly
• Develop and maintain analysis tools, scripts, and workflows for aerodynamic and aerothermal modeling by writing code and scripts in a variety of languages, making sure they share common interfaces
• Interface with responsible engineers, providing them inputs to their designs and ensuring they have a clear understanding of the physical phenomena they are dealing with

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a related engineering discipline
• 1+ years of experience with structural or fluid dynamics via full-time employment, outside the classroom projects, or lab work

Preferred Skills & Experience

• Master’s degree or PhD in aerospace or mechanical engineering
• Experience with Ansys Fluent or equivalent
• Experience with solvers and tools for reentry vehicles, e.g. FUN3D, CBAero, DPLR, HEAT
• Experience with industry level CAD tools, e.g. SolidWorks, NX, OnShape, CATIA
• Experience with thermal protection systems
• Strong background in external, compressible fluid dynamics

Additional Requirements

• Must be willing to work extended hours and/or weekends as needed
• Ability to obtain a security clearance if necessary

ITAR Requirements

To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a