Propulsion & Fluids Engineer

Karman+ is building the first logistics chain in space for the regolith age. Today everything we use in orbit — fuel, water, materials — is launched from Earth, which keeps every mission slow, expensive and small. Asteroids already hold those resources in orbit. We build the spacecraft and systems to go get them.

Our first mission launches in 2028 to rendezvous with the asteroid Apophis — a deep-space mission designed, built and tested by our team in Broomfield, Colorado, on a startup timeline and budget. We develop most of our own hardware, from power and propulsion electronics to RF systems and payloads, and we test it in our own facilities.

The role

You will own propulsion at the system level: the electric propulsion string that takes the spacecraft from Earth orbit through an escape spiral to deep space, as well as the RCS that controls momentum along the way. Both the EP thruster and RCS system are procured, everything around it (tankage, feed system, power electronics interface, integration and test) is ours to define, procure, build and prove.

Requirements

• Day to day you will
• Oversee system design, ensuring proper design and control to maintain subsystem performance in space.
• Specify and procure the fluid components (valves, regulators, transducers, filters, COPV tankage) and own the cleanliness, leak, proof and pressure-safety work that comes with them.
• Build and run the propulsion test campaign: component acceptance, feed-system flow tests, thruster coupling tests with the PPU, and the hardware-in-the-loop setup that lets us exercise the string on the bench before it ever sees a vacuum chamber.
• Manage range safety compliance and propellant loading plans.
• Drive trades for advanced vehicle capabilities, like refueling architectures and multimode propellant systems.
• You'll fit if you have
• A desire to push the envelope of how industry approaches propulsion systems.
• Deep experience years in aerospace engineering, ideally working on electric in space propulsion.
• Expertise in thruster design, propellant systems, heat transfer, and space-rated thermal management.
• Hands-on problem-solving skills with proficiency in tools like FEA and CFD for thermal analysis, propulsion modeling software, and CAD.
• Proven track record of delivering high-stakes engineering projects and collaborating with multidisciplinary teams.
• Clear communication skills to engage technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Nice to have
• Xenon or Krypton EP flight experience
• Experience with deep space missions
• Hands-on TVAC and vibe testing
• Required
• US work authorization