The Role
Mechanical Engineering Intern supporting satellite hardware design and development. Responsibilities include translating requirements into mechanical constraints, creating 3D CAD models and engineering drawings, performing structural analysis, coordinating with multidisciplinary teams, and supporting prototyping, manufacturing, documentation, and design validation. The intern will own a meaningful project through stages from concept to detailed design and may present results at the internship’s conclusion.
Summary Generated by Built In
Wanna Join the Adventure?
Loft Orbital is looking for a Mechanical Engineering Intern to join our team in Golden, Colorado for Summer 2027. You’ll work alongside our Mechanical Engineering team on the design and development of hardware for satellite missions.
This internship is designed to give you meaningful ownership of a real mechanical engineering project. You’ll gain hands-on experience taking a design from early requirements and concept development through detailed design, analysis, engineering documentation, and potentially prototyping.
About This Role
- Translate project needs into mechanical requirements and design constraints
- Develop concepts and detailed 3D CAD models for satellite hardware
- Perform structural analysis and support design validation
- Create engineering drawings, including dimensions and tolerances
- Coordinate with electrical, systems, manufacturing, and other engineering stakeholders
- Support prototyping, manufacturing, and design iteration
- Contribute to mechanical engineering standards, documentation, and best practices
- Present your work and key learnings at the end of the internship
As a Mechanical Engineering Intern, you’ll contribute to the design and development of a new mechanical subsystem or product that could ultimately support future Loft missions.
Depending on team priorities and active development work during the summer, you may:
What We’re Looking For
- Currently pursuing a Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field; undergraduate students must be rising juniors or rising seniors
- Experience with CAD / 3D modeling through coursework, projects, research, or internships
- Foundational understanding of mechanical design and analysis
- Strong problem-solving and communication skills
- Curiosity, initiative, and interest in hands-on spacecraft hardware development
Nice to Haves
- Hands-on machining, manufacturing, or prototyping experience
- Exposure to electronics packaging or mechanical design around electrical components
- Experience participating in multidisciplinary engineering teams such as robotics, Formula SAE, rocketry, or CubeSat
- Experience leading a school, club, or technical project
- Previous internship, aerospace, or other relevant hands-on engineering experience
During Your Internship, You Can Expect To
- Gain hands-on experience designing hardware that could support future satellite missions
- Own meaningful engineering work from requirements through design and potentially prototyping
- Receive ongoing mentorship and feedback from your mentor and manager
- Work across engineering disciplines and learn how mechanical systems integrate into a spacecraft
- Build relationships with fellow interns and Loft employees
- Share your work and key learnings at the end of the internship
Compensation & Logistics
- Hourly compensation: $30.00/hour
- Timing: Full-time, 10–12 week Summer 2027 internship. Start and end dates will be coordinated based on school schedule and team availability.
- Location: On-site in Golden, Colorado
- Relocation: Loft offers housing/relocation support for interns traveling from outside the local area.
- In-office perks: Daily catered lunches and snacks
Who We Are: Founded in 2017, Loft provides governments, companies, and research institutions with a fast, reliable, and simple way to deploy missions in orbit.
We integrate, launch, and operate spacecraft, offering end-to-end missions as a service across Earth observation, IoT connectivity, on-orbit AI, national security missions, and more. Leveraging our existing space infrastructure and an extensive inventory of satellite buses, Loft is reducing years-long integration and launch timelines to months. With more than 30 missions flown, Loft’s flight heritage and proven technologies enable customers to focus on their mission objectives.
With a growing fleet on track to reach 30 satellites by 2027, we are scaling up quickly across our offices in San Francisco, CA | Golden, CO | and Toulouse, France to meet accelerating demand for space infrastructure.
We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.
Skills Required
- Currently pursuing a Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field
- Undergraduate students must be rising juniors or rising seniors
- Experience with CAD or 3D modeling through coursework, projects, research, or internships
- Foundational understanding of mechanical design and analysis
- Strong problem-solving and communication skills
- Curiosity, initiative, and interest in hands-on spacecraft hardware development
- Hands-on machining, manufacturing, or prototyping experience
- Exposure to electronics packaging or mechanical design around electrical components
- Experience participating in multidisciplinary engineering teams such as robotics, Formula SAE, rocketry, or CubeSat
- Experience leading a school, club, or technical project
- Previous internship, aerospace, or other relevant hands-on engineering experience
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The Company
What We Do
Space Made Simple. We are a true end-to-end service provider letting our customers rapidly deploy and operate their payloads on reliable high-performance satellites at an unprecedented simplicity and affordability.
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