At Vast, our mission is to contribute to a future where billions of people are living and thriving in space. We are building artificial gravity space stations, allowing long-term stays in space without the adverse effects of zero-gravity. Our initial crewed space habitat will be Haven-1, scheduled to be the world’s first commercial space station when it launches into low-Earth orbit in 2026. It is part of our stepping stone approach to continuous human presence in LEO. 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 Space Simulation Technician, reporting to the Supervisor of Environmental Testing to support the development of the systems that will be required for the design and build of artificial-gravity human-rated space stations.
This will be a full-time non-exempt position located in our Long Beach location.
Shift:
- 1st shift: 6:00am - 2:30pm
- 2nd shift: 2:00pm - 10:30pm
Responsibilities:
- Perform thermal vacuum, thermal cycling, vibration and shock testing for development, qualification, and acceptance test campaigns.
- Support bench top test setups as well as environment specific test support systems.
- Develop and modify testing procedures to adhere to test requirements.
- Review test plans, requirements, SOWs, fixture design, etc.
- Install required instrumentation on article to test and log data to support Tvac, vibe, thermal, and shock.
- Maintain test lab and equipment across vibe, thermal, and shock.
- Familiar with data acquisitions required to support data logging and data management.
- Aid in best practices development for test lab use and environmental testing conduct.
- Ability to train personnel on environmental test operation and process.
Minimum Qualifications:
- 2+ years of hands-on mechanical experience.
- High School Diploma, equivalency certificate, or equivalent work experience.
Preferred Skills & Experience:
- 3+ years of environmental testing work experience inc (vibration and thermal testing).
- Experience with facilities within an aerospace industry.
- EMI testing experience related to support and test setup.
- Ability to troubleshoot issues across multiple test environments and conditions.
- Familiar with space planning procedures and operations.
- Ability to create and update request for proposals (RFPs), purchase orders (POs) and facilities work orders in an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software.
- Ability to make independent judgments with limited information.
- Ability to work effectively in a team environment.
- Communication skills for relaying data (verbally and in-writing) between other employees, vendors, and customers.
- Logical and strategic approach to solving problems.
- 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.
- Ability to read and understand basic schematics.
- Knowledge of computer applications and the ability to easily navigate through different computer software programs.
- Experience utilizing generic hand tools.
Additional Requirements:
- Ability to travel up to 20% of the time.
- Willingness to work overtime, or weekends to support critical mission milestones.
- Ability to lift up to 25lbs unassisted.
Pay Ranges:
- Space Simulation Technician I: $20.00 - $30.00
- Space Simulation Technician II: $28.00 - $40.00
- Space Simulation Technician III: $33.00 - $45.00
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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