The Role
Supports spacecraft antenna design, testing, simulation, debugging, and vehicle integration. Responsibilities include antenna chamber testing, performance analysis, EM simulations, RF system testing, antenna design, and mechanical support structure design. The intern collaborates with RF, avionics, mechanical, and vehicle engineering teams during a 12-week onsite internship.
Summary Generated by Built In
As an Antenna Engineering Intern at Impulse, your core responsibility will be to support design, test, and integration of antenna systems for spacecraft communication systems and GNSS receivers. You will work with antenna engineers, RF engineers, avionics electrical engineers, mechanical engineers, and others to develop performant and maintainable solutions. Your contributions will range from scripting for early antenna design to integration testing to supporting antennas at the vehicle level.
*This internship is 12 weeks long from January to May 2027
*This internship is 12 weeks long from January to May 2027
Responsibilities
- Perform antenna testing using test chambers and analyze test data
- Analyze real-world performance of antennas, debug antenna issues on completed vehicles, and investigate methods to improve vehicle radiated performance
- Support RF and avionics teams by performing EM simulations of PCBs and other vehicle structures for desense analysis, co-existence simulations, and transmission loss
- Contribute to design of antennas for Impulse’s future vehicles
- Work closely with RF engineers and mechanical engineers to integrate antenna designs into RF front ends and vehicle structures
- Design mechanical antenna support structures including mounting fixtures, hats, and other test systems
Minimum Qualifications
- In progress Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related
- 1+ year experience in antenna, RF, or electrical hardware design, bringup, and test, including lab work and university projects
- Experience writing Python, MATLAB, or another scripting tool
- Familiarity with electromagnetic concepts such as impedance matching, s-parameters, microwave network analysis, and power handling
Preferred Skills and Experience
- Experience doing RF system-level testing in the lab using equipment such as spectrum analyzers, power meters, oscilloscopes, and noise figure analyzers.
- Familiarity with a PCB design software such as KiCad, Altium, or Cadence
- Experience working closely with mechanical and vehicle engineers to integrate antenna or electrical designs with mechanical hardware
- Experience analyzing antenna systems in the lab (s-parameters, isolation, radiation patterns, propagation effects, etc)
- Familiarity with 3D EM simulation tools such as CST, HFSS, ADS, FEKO, COMSOL, or Cenos
- Experience in a start-up or agile development environment
Additional Requirements:
- Willing and able to work on-site in Redondo Beach, CA for the duration of the internship
- This role may require overtime hours; interns are eligible for overtime pay.
Additional Information:
Compensation bands are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual level and base pay is determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on job-related skills, education, experience, technical capabilities and internal equity. In addition to base salary, for full-time hires, you may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of stock options, and access to medical, vision & dental coverage as well as access to a 401(k) retirement plan.
To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.
Impulse Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Impulse Space 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.
About
Impulse Space, the in-space transportation company founded by Tom Mueller, is opening access beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) with its fleet of in-space transportation vehicles. The high-energy Helios vehicle unlocks orbits beyond LEO with its powerful Deneb engine, dropping off payloads in MEO, GEO, heliocentric, lunar, and other planetary orbits. The flight-proven Mira vehicle uses a nontoxic, high-impulse chemical propulsion system to offer orbital transport, constellation deployment, and precision reentry services to customers throughout LEO. Led by a team that delivered the most reliable rockets in history, Impulse provides economical and efficient in-space transportation by reliably and rapidly getting customers where they want to go.
Skills Required
- In-progress Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field
- At least 1 year of experience in antenna, RF, or electrical hardware design, bring-up, and testing, including laboratory work or university projects
- Experience writing Python, MATLAB, or another scripting language
- Familiarity with impedance matching, S-parameters, microwave network analysis, and power handling
- Experience with RF system-level laboratory testing using spectrum analyzers, power meters, oscilloscopes, or noise figure analyzers
- Familiarity with PCB design software such as KiCad, Altium, or Cadence
- Experience integrating antenna or electrical designs with mechanical hardware
- Experience analyzing antenna systems, including S-parameters, isolation, radiation patterns, and propagation effects
- Familiarity with 3D electromagnetic simulation tools such as CST, HFSS, ADS, FEKO, COMSOL, or Cenos
- Experience in a startup or agile development environment
- Willingness and ability to work onsite in Redondo Beach, California, for the internship
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The Company
What We Do
Impulse enables low-cost and nimble last-mile space payload delivery - access any orbit, reach other worlds.
