Propulsion Engineer – Liquid Rocket Engines
Houston, TX
About Intuitive Machines:
Intuitive Machines is an innovative and cutting-edge space company making cislunar space accessible to both public and private customers. Our mission is to further science and exploration, communications, and economic progress from the Earth to the Moon and beyond. With multiple NASA lunar missions in development and additional private missions on our manifest, we pride ourselves in supporting NASA, our customers, and the nation in paving the way to return humans to the surface of the Moon. Our world-class team includes experts in all aspects of spacecraft subsystems design, development, and test, on-orbit operations, and safety.
About the Position:
We are seeking a Propulsion Design Engineer to support the development of next-generation liquid rocket engines and propulsion hardware. This role is primarily focused on the design, analysis, fabrication, and testing of liquid rocket engine injectors and associated combustion hardware. The successful candidate will play a key role in developing injector architectures, combustion devices, and additively manufactured engine components through rapid design-build-test iterations.
The successful candidate will work closely with propulsion analysts, thermal engineers, structures engineers, manufacturing personnel, and test engineers to develop flight and development hardware from initial concept through hot-fire testing. This is a hands-on engineering role requiring deep technical engagement with hardware design, analysis, fabrication, and test execution.
Responsibilities:
- Design liquid rocket engine components including injectors, combustion chambers, manifolds, feed system hardware, and associated propulsion components.
- Develop detailed 3D CAD models, assemblies, drawings, and manufacturing documentation
- Perform engineering analyses supporting propulsion hardware design, including structural, thermal, fluid, and manufacturability assessments.
- Develop propulsion hardware optimized for additive manufacturing processes, including complex internal flow features, integrated manifolds, cooling circuits, design-for-additive-manufacturing considerations, and post-processing requirements.
- Work closely with internal machine shop, additive manufacturing, and fabrication teams to mature designs from concept to hardware.
- Support component assembly, development testing, hot-fire testing, post-test hardware evaluations, and data analysis.
- Investigate hardware anomalies and implement design improvements based on test results and lessons learned.
- Collaborate with structures, thermal, manufacturing, test, and systems engineering teams throughout the hardware development lifecycle.
- Support rapid design-build-test iterations in a fast-paced development environment.
Requirements:
- BS or MS in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related engineering discipline.
- Minimum 3-5 years of design, fabrication, and testing of liquid rocket engines and related components
- Experience designing and testing injectors or cooled combustion chambers for liquid rocket engines.
- Proficiency with Creo, SolidWorks, or equivalent CAD software.
- Strong understanding of fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, heat transfer, and combustion fundamentals.
- Experience creating manufacturing drawings, tolerance schemes, and engineering documentation for fabricated hardware.
- Ability to develop engineering analyses and communicate technical recommendations.
- Strong communication skills and ability to work effectively across multidisciplinary engineering teams.
- Experience developing cryogenic propulsion systems or hardware.
- Experience evaluating injector performance, atomization, combustion efficiency, combustion stability, or related combustion device characteristics.
- Experience with combustion chamber heat transfer, vacuum nozzles, electric pumps or turbomachinery, internal manifolding, or feed system hardware.
- Experience with additive manufacturing of metallic aerospace hardware and design-for-additive-manufacturing (DfAM) principles.
- Experience supporting component-level or engine-level hot-fire testing.
- Experience performing CFD, thermal, structural, combustion, or multidisciplinary analyses supporting propulsion hardware development.
- Experience working closely with machine shops, additive manufacturing facilities, and propulsion test organizations.
- Experience developing hardware for aerospace, launch vehicle, spacecraft, or defense applications.
US EEO Statement:
Intuitive Machines is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law.
Skills Required
- BS or MS degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related engineering discipline
- 3-5 years of experience designing, fabricating, and testing liquid rocket engines and related components
- Experience designing and testing liquid rocket engine injectors or cooled combustion chambers
- Proficiency with Creo, SolidWorks, or equivalent CAD software
- Strong understanding of fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, heat transfer, and combustion fundamentals
- Experience creating manufacturing drawings, tolerance schemes, and engineering documentation for fabricated hardware
- Ability to develop engineering analyses and communicate technical recommendations
- Strong communication skills and ability to work effectively across multidisciplinary engineering teams
- Experience developing cryogenic propulsion systems or hardware
- Experience evaluating injector performance, atomization, combustion efficiency, combustion stability, or related combustion device characteristics
- Experience with combustion chamber heat transfer, vacuum nozzles, electric pumps or turbomachinery, internal manifolding, or feed system hardware
- Experience with additive manufacturing of metallic aerospace hardware and design-for-additive-manufacturing principles
- Experience supporting component-level or engine-level hot-fire testing
- Experience performing CFD, thermal, structural, combustion, or multidisciplinary analyses
- Experience working with machine shops, additive manufacturing facilities, and propulsion test organizations
- Experience developing hardware for aerospace, launch vehicle, spacecraft, or defense applications
What We Do
Intuitive Machines' complete lunar program unlocks the lunar economy to explore the solar system further and gain knowledge for the progress of humanity. As the premier provider of space services and technologies, Intuitive Machines is reestablishing the United States' dominance on the ultimate high ground, the Moon. Designed by the greatest minds in spaceflight, IM's lunar program will send the first American spacecraft to the surface of the Moon since the Apollo program and send the first spacecraft ever to reach the lunar south pole.
