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Thermal Engineer Intern (Fall 2025)

San Francisco

Astranis builds advanced satellites for high orbits, expanding humanity’s reach into the solar system. Today Astranis satellites provide dedicated, secure networks to highly-sophisticated customers across the globe— large enterprises, sovereign governments, and the US military.With five satellites on orbit and many more set to launch soon, the company is servicing a backlog of more than $1 billion of commercial contracts.

Astranis is the preferred satellite communications partner for buyers with stringent requirements for uptime, data security, network visibility, and customization.Astranis has raised over $750 million from some of the world’s best investors, from Andreessen Horowitz to Blackrock and Fidelity, and employs a team of 450 engineers and entrepreneurs. Astranis designs, builds, and operates its satellites out of its 153,000 sq. ft. headquarters in Northern California, USA.

Thermal Engineer — Intern

Internships at Astranis typically last for twelve weeks, and are hourly roles designed for students who are currently enrolled at a four-year university. 

As an Intern, you will have an amazing opportunity to work on hard problems — we pride ourselves on giving everyone at Astranis a chance to do meaningful work on complex projects, no matter their seniority. Many past interns have designed and tested hardware/software that is heading to space on our first satellite, and many of them are now full-time employees at Astranis. 

If you have already graduated from a four-year university, please apply to be an Associate Engineer.

Role

  • Work together with the engineering team to design, evaluate, build, and test satellite hardware and/or software.
  • Support design trades that successfully balance performance margins, resource use, risk, cost, and schedule.
  • Perform thermal analysis to varying degrees of fidelity (simplified to detailed) on a variety of different types of hardware such as propulsion components, batteries, high powered electronics, RF components, mechanisms, and printed circuit boards (PCBs).
  • Design, evaluate, procure and test thermal solutions such as heaters, heat pipes, thermal interface materials, and surface coatings.
  • Develop processes and procedures for integration and assembly which ensure thermal design intent is met. Collaborate with the integration and test team in the installation of thermal hardware as needed.
  • Plan and run thermal vacuum testing and verification at the component and spacecraft level.

Requirements

  • Currently pursuing a B.S. or M.S. in mechanical, aerospace, or equivalent technical degree (e.g. physics or applied math)
  • A passion and enthusiasm for hardware development, including working in a fast-paced environment and hands-on design and development
  • Demonstrated ability to personally design, build, and test hardware from scratch.
  • US Citizenship or Green Card
  • Don't meet them all? Not a problem. Please apply even if you do not meet all these criteria.

Bonus

  • Experience with CAD
  • Experience with analytical software thermal analysis such as ANSYS and Thermal Desktop
  • Experience with electronics systems design and packaging
  • Experience (projects or previous internships) related to aerospace
The base pay for this position is $29.00 per hour.

Base Hourly Pay

$29 - $29 USD

U.S. Citizenship, Lawful Permanent Residency, or Refugee/Asylee Status Required
(To comply with U.S. Government space technology export regulations, applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the United States, or other protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3))
 
Our mission and our products are meant to connect the world and everyone in it, regardless of gender, race, creed, or any other distinction. We believe in a diverse and inclusive workplace, and we encourage all people to join our team and bring their unique perspective to help make us stronger.

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