At Vast, our mission is to contribute to a future where billions of people are living and thriving in space. Vast is developing next-generation space stations to ensure a continuous human presence in space for America and its allies, enabling advanced microgravity research and manufacturing, and unlocking a new space economy for government, corporate, and private customers. Using an incremental, hardware-rich and low-cost approach, Vast is rapidly developing its multi-module Haven Station. Haven Demo’s 2025 success made Vast the only operational commercial space station company to fly and operate its own spacecraft. Next, Haven-1 is expected to become the world’s first commercial space station when it launches, followed by additional Haven modules to enable permanent human presence by 2030. Our team is all-in, committed to executing our mission safely and on time. If you want to work with the most talented people on Earth furthering space exploration for humanity, come join us.
Vast is looking for a Sensor Development Engineer I, reporting to the Senior Manager, Sensor Development, to support the development of the systems that will be required for the design and build of artificial-gravity human-rated space stations. As part of the Sensor Development Team, you will be a cross-disciplinary engineer collaborating with Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS), Avionics, and Flight Software, to design and execute next-generation sensors for low-earth orbit. You will create and validate test stands for atmospheric sensing, contribute to sensor system architecture for the Haven program, and provide support for flight software firmware and mission CONOPs.
This will be a full-time, exempt position located in our Long Beach location.
Responsibilities:
- Design, build, and validate test stands for the sensor development team
- Coordinate with the Embedded Software, ECLSS Test, and AVI Test teams to implement best practices for unique sensor requirements
- Participate in sensor design for the Haven program, contributing unique ideas to environmental sensing in low-earth orbit
Minimum Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or Chemical Engineering, or in Chemistry, Physics, Biology, or related subfields
- Project or coursework experience designing, building, and testing sensors
Preferred Skills & Experience:
- 1+ years experience designing, building, and testing sensors
- Hands-on experience with optics, lasers, piezoelectric materials, and electrochemical cells
- Hands-on experience with scientific instrumentation, including lock-in amplifiers, waveform generators, oscilloscopes, power supplies, and spectrum analyzers
- Hands-on experience with spectroscopic instrumentation, including UV-VIS spectrometers, Mass Spectrometers, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance instruments, and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) or Raman Spectrometers
- Experience using standard data acquisition platforms, such as LabView, Simulink, and Beckhoff
- Comfortable using Python for data analysis
- Comfortable using CAD for 3D printing
- Comfortable working in a high-stress environment balancing several projects at any given time, and the flexibility to adjust for abrupt changes in strategic direction
Additional Requirements:
- Willingness to work evenings and/or weekends to support critical mission milestones
- Ability to lift up to 25lbs unassisted
U.S. EXPORT CONTROL COMPLIANCE STATUS
The person hired will have access to information and items subject to U.S. export controls, and therefore, must either be a “U.S. person” as defined by 22 C.F.R. § 120.62 or otherwise eligible for deemed export licensing. This status includes U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, lawful permanent residents (green card holders), and asylees and refugees with such status granted, not pending.EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
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What We Do
Vast is developing next-generation space stations to ensure continuous human presence in space for America and its allies, enabling advanced microgravity research and manufacturing, and unlocking a new space economy for government, corporate, and private customers. Using an incremental, hardware-rich and low-cost approach, Vast is rapidly developing its multi-module Haven Station. Haven Demo’s 2025 success made Vast the only operational commercial space station company to fly and operate its own spacecraft. Next, Haven-1 is expected to become the world’s first commercial space station when it launches in 2026, followed by additional Haven modules to enable permanent human presence by 2030. With more than 1,000 employees at its Long Beach, California headquarters and over a billion dollars in private capital invested, Vast has built the facilities required to manufacture and operate America’s next space station. The company plans to develop future habitats for the Moon and Mars, dedicated space stations for government partners, and other crewed systems that will unlock the expanding long-term space economy.
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