VAST Data
Senior Solar Array Engineer, Mechanical
Long Beach, California, United States · Senior · Full-time
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odds of building a lasting career here
Sponsors, but it's cap-subject — you still face the weighted lottery (~61% per draw at Level IV). Good if you win; have a cap-exempt backup on your list.
Lottery odds assume a STEM candidate.
Personalize to your clock →H-1B wage level
the lottery is wage-weighted — each level is one more entry
$11,399 more — $123,739 — moves this role to Level III and 3 lottery entries. That figure is inside the range the employer already advertised.
Based on the DOL prevailing wage for this occupation and worksite, a base salary of $123,739 would place this position at wage Level III. That figure is within the posted range, and I'd like to target it. This role classifies under "Mechanical Engineers" for prevailing-wage purposes.
DOL prevailing wage, 2026-27 wage year · Mechanical Engineers (17-2141) · Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA. Wage level is derived by USCIS from the offered wage, occupation and worksite; the occupation shown is inferred from the job title.
Employer immigration record
from this employer's Department of Labor filings
Files H-1B transfers
Sourced from Department of Labor LCA, PERM and prevailing-wage disclosure data. Employer matching is by name, so figures may be split across an employer's legal entities. Absence of a filing means none appears in our copy of the data, not that none exists.
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About the role
- Next, Haven-1 is expected to become the world's first commercial space station when it launches in 2027, followed by additional Haven modules.
- Additionally, the company recently announced Vast Satellite, a high-power satellite product line leveraging its space station components and the heritage of Haven Demo.
- This will be a full-time, exempt position located in our Long Beach location.
Responsibilities
- Design and analyze mechanisms for solar array deployment, including spring-driven hinges, latches, dampers, and hold-down/release devices
- Design and analyze mechanisms for solar array articulation, including motorized gimbals, gear trains, bearings, and drive electronics interfaces
- Build and maintain torque budgets for deployment and articulation mechanisms, including friction, harness resistance, disturbance torques, and margin verification per NASA-STD-5017B
- Perform or support mechanism life analysis - bearing life, lubricant life, wear analysis - and define qualification test programs to demonstrate life margin
- Design for integration and test - develop deployment test procedures, gravity offload approaches, and workmanship screens
- Support environmental test campaigns (vibration, thermal vacuum, shock, life testing) per SMC-S-016
- Perform or support failure analysis, root cause investigation, and mechanism anomaly resolution
- Participate in design reviews, FMEA/FMECA, and technical documentation for internal and NASA deliverables
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or related discipline
- 5-10 years of experience designing, building, and testing electromechanical systems - preferably mechanisms for spacecraft, satellites, or robotic systems
- Ability to travel up to 50% of the time
- Ability to lift up to 25lbs unassisted
- Demonstrated experience with mechanism design fundamentals: bearings, gears, motors, springs, fasteners, and structural load paths
- Experience with environmental testing of mechanical hardware (vibration, thermal cycling, life testing)
- Experience with spring-driven deployable mechanisms - hinges, latches, dampers, hold-down/release devices.
- Experience with motorized mechanisms - gimbals, solar array drive assemblies (SADAs), antenna positioners, or robotic actuators.
- Knowledge of tribology for the space environment - solid film lubricants (MoS₂, WS₂), space-rated greases (Braycote, Pennzane), lubricant life analysis, and the challenges of ground testing vs. on-orbit performance
- Experience with bearing design for space mechanisms - angular contact bearing configurations, preload methods, thermal effects on preload, and lubrication-limited life analysis
Nice to have
- Preferred Skills & Experience:
Skills
- Familiarity with SMC-S-016 or GEVS environmental test requirements
- CAD experience in NX or similar (Teamcenter experience is a plus)
Compensation
- $112,340 - $230,472 USD
- We calibrate level and compensation to the selected candidate's experience and demonstrated capability.
- Base salary will vary depending on job-related knowledge, education, skills, experience, business needs, and market demand.
- Salary is just one component of our comprehensive compensation package.
Benefits
- Base salary will vary depending on job-related knowledge, education, skills, experience, business needs, and market demand.
Equal opportunity
- Vast is an Equal Opportunity Employer
- employment with Vast is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.
- Vast is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Vast is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.
This listing is sourced directly from VAST Data's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.