Intern, Launch Engineering 2027

Mission

Cowboy Space Corporation is solving the global energy crisis by building the infrastructure for abundant, resilient space-based solar energy. We are tackling one of humanity’s most complex engineering challenges with a world-class team dedicated to delivering a revolutionary power platform. Cowboy Space Corporation is transforming how civilization powers, computes and connects - from orbit to Earth.

Background

Cowboy Space Corporation is building the infrastructure to power and connect the orbital economy. Our modular, scalable satellites collect sunlight in Low Earth Orbit to enable multiple integrated applications: transmitting energy via infrared lasers (space-to-earth and space-to-space), powering on-orbit high-performance computing clusters (GPU/TPU), and providing secure, high bandwidth optical data transport.

Current energy and data systems rely on complex logistics and outdated infrastructure. Cowboy Space Corporation overcomes these challenges by enabling direct, on-demand, secure, and scalable energy distribution and data processing from space. This will revolutionize how we operate in orbit and on Earth, supporting the rapidly expanding space industrial base, ISAM (In-Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing) operations, remote regions, and military bases.

Baiju Bhatt founded Cowboy Space Corporation in 2024. Inspired by his father’s work with NASA Langley Research Center, Baiju earned his B.S. in Physics and M.S. in Mathematics at Stanford before co-founding Robinhood, now a public company that has helped over 20 million Americans access the financial system. Cowboy Space Corporation has raised ~$365 million from Index Ventures, Interlagos, Construct Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, NEA, and others.

This is an ambitious mission that demands extraordinary talent. Cowboy Space Corporation’s team has worked at places like SpaceX, Blue Origin, Stoke Space, Astranis and NASA. If you're ready to solve complex technical challenges and help build the most important energy company in the world, we want to hear from you.

About the Role:

Cowboy Space builds its own launch vehicle. The engine, the turbopumps that feed it, the mechanisms that separate and land the vehicle, and the fluid systems that move propellant through all of it are designed, built and tested in house in Kent, Washington. This internship puts you on one of those four teams.

This is a hands-on hardware internship. You will own a scoped piece of real work: a component, an analysis, or a test. You will take it from definition through to a result the team uses, and you will present that result before you leave.

There are four tracks, tell us in your application which track interests you and why. Assignment depends on your background and team needs.

• POWERPACK: The turbopump that feeds the engine: inducers, impellers, volutes, diffusers, turbine hardware, seals and housings.

• MECHANISMS: Separation systems, landing gear, aero control surfaces and electromechanical actuation, designed for reuse.

• FLUIDS: Valves, feedlines, manifolds and pressure vessels that move propellant and gas to the engine.

• TCA & THRUSTERS: Injectors and thrust chambers, where propellant becomes thrust.

Responsibilities:

• Bring creativity to every design challenge and own your work through to completion.

• Own a scoped component, analysis or test task end to end, under the direction of an experienced engineer.

• Produce CAD models and engineering drawings to ASME Y14.5 GD&T standards.

• Run the analysis on your own work, including hand calculations and FEA, then check your predictions against test data.

• Work on the shop floor with machinists and technicians, and see your part get made.

• Support component and engine test: help write instrumentation requests, take test-day support shifts, and reduce the data afterward.

• Troubleshoot hardware, take part in root cause discussions, and carry the resulting changes.

• Present your work and your results to the team at the end of the term.

Basic Qualifications:

• Currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program in a STEM field (Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Physics, Materials Science, or equivalent).

• Strong fundamentals in at least one of: fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, structural mechanics, kinematics, or heat transfer.

• Proficiency with CAD (NX, SolidWorks, CATIA, Creo, or Fusion 360).

• Comfort working hands-on with hardware, in a lab or shop, and with test equipment.

• A collaborative, self-directed working style, and comfort with ambiguity.

• Must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience seeing a mechanical design through to physical hardware — built, assembled and tested. Coursework, competition teams and personal projects all count.

• Hands-on prototyping, machining, brazing or welding.

• Engineering drawings to ASME Y14.5 GD&T.

• Working knowledge of FEA tools (ANSYS, Nastran, or Abaqus).

• By track: (Powerpack) rotating machinery, turbomachinery or rotordynamics coursework; (Mechanisms) mechanisms, actuators or deployable structures; (Fluids) valves, pressure vessels or fluid system sizing; (TCA & Thrusters) combustion, injectors or propulsion test.

• A track record of picking up an unfamiliar problem and closing it out with minimal direction.

Compensation

(Quarter-long internship) — Paid $2,000 weekly

• Daily lunch in the office and a fully stocked kitchen with beverages and snacks

ITAR Requirements

• Export Control Requirement: To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), applicants 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 ITAR here.

Disclaimer

This job description is a summary of the primary duties and responsibilities of the job and position. It is not intended to be a comprehensive or all-inclusive listing of duties and responsibilities. Contents are subject to change at Cowboy Space Corp.’s discretion.

Cowboy Space Corp. is an equal employment opportunity employer. We consider individuals for employment or promotion according to their skills, abilities and experience. Cowboy Space Corp. is committed to complying with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, religious creed, age, national origin, ancestry, physical, mental or developmental disability, sex (which includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and medical conditions relating to pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding), veteran status, military status, marital or registered domestic partnership status, medical condition (including cancer or genetic characteristics), genetic information, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, as well as any other category protected by federal, state or local laws.