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Senior Aerothermal Engineer

Inversion Space · Playa Vista, California, United States · On-site

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About Inversion Space

Making Space a Transportation Layer for Earth. Backed by Y Combinator.

About the role

Every surface of Inversion's reentry vehicles is designed against the aerothermal environment it must survive — and that environment must be known before it can be designed against. As the Senior Aerothermal Environments Engineer, you will develop and database the aerothermal environment around our reentry vehicles, combining high-fidelity CFD, engineering-level methods, and test data into database products that drive vehicle design. In this role, you will:

What they're looking for

  • Bachelor's degree in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering, or equivalent experience
  • Typically, 5+ years of experience in hypersonic, supersonic, reentry, or rocketry aerothermodynamic analysis
  • Experience running high-enthalpy flow solvers (US3D, DPLR, LAURA, Loci-CHEM, or similar)
  • Experience with handbook and engineering-level heating estimation methods (e.g., Fay-Riddell, Tauber, MINIVER-class tools, or similar correlations)
  • Strong fundamentals in hypersonic aerodynamics, boundary layer physics, and convective and radiative heat transfer
  • Proficiency in programming languages like Python, Fortran, C++, or MATLAB for analysis tooling and automation
More about this role

Inversion is an aerospace and defense company pioneering advanced reentry technology to enable next-generation capabilities from space. By combining high-performance materials, precision aerodynamics, and mission-driven autonomy, Inversion is transforming reentry into an operational capability for an entirely new class of missions.

The company’s highly maneuverable reentry spacecraft, Arc, is designed for rapid global cargo delivery, hypersonic testing, and other national security missions that require precise, controlled flight through the atmosphere. Arc creates an entirely new transportation domain, unlocking unprecedented speed and global reach.

Headquartered in Los Angeles, Inversion designs, manufactures, and integrates its spacecraft under one roof, enabling the company to move rapidly from concept to flight. The company is backed by leading investors including Y Combinator, Spark Capital, and Lockheed Martin Ventures, with customers across the U.S. government and commercial space industry.

Every surface of Inversion's reentry vehicles is designed against the aerothermal environment it must survive — and that environment must be known before it can be designed against. As...

Read the full posting on Inversion Space's site ↗

Reentry

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