Recovery Systems Intern

At Tumbleweed, we’re building an antigravity machine by making sending anything to space as easy as mailing a package to bring about the era of in-space manufacturing. Our customers make 10x better cancer cures and semiconductors in space, and get there 10x faster and cheaper thanks to our pre-certified and fault-containing satellite and payload containers. We’ve sold out and built our first mission from 0 in 9 months, and our next mission is already filling up.

We’re a small team that have built a space mission in record time, radically focused on executing as fast as we can, always pushing the envelope, and staying kind along the way.

We’re motivated by making the biggest impact on humanity using space, and doing things that have never been done before.
We work with the best and provide them with an environment of total ownership and trust.

As a Recovery Systems Intern, your primary focus will be iterating on the parachute deployment system for the Oasis Beta spacecraft. You will support the recovery team with prototyping and ground-testing of the drogue deployment mechanism, while taking the recovery systems controller from a working hardware-in-the-loop baseline toward a flight-ready algorithm. The work spans mechanical design (including work with pressurized systems), electronics, control systems and hazardous hardware testing. While you are not expected to be an expert in all of the aforementioned fields, experience with hands-on prototyping and hardware development will be highly valued. You will be closely collaborating with engineers responsible for the aerodynamic and mechanical design of the capsule, as well as our workshop crew for building and testing prototypes.

• Designing and assembling prototypes of the parachute deployment mechanism.
• Integrating the recovery system controller into the deployment mechanism.
• Performing parachute deployment ground tests.
• Advancing the design of a capsule drop test article.

• Hands-on experience with prototyping and hardware testing.
• Programming for embedded or test hardware.
• Familiarity with pressurized and fluidics systems.
• Familiarity with general spacecraft design practices and aerodynamics.
• Enthusiasm to go to extreme lengths to make a positive impact on the world.

A small reminder: Job descriptions describe an ideal candidate, not a checklist you need to complete perfectly. If this opportunity sparks your interest and you can see yourself succeeding in the role, we'd love to hear from you - even if you don't meet every single requirement on the list!

We are working on the next industrial revolution and a future where anyone can send anything to space, anytime.

You’ll be a part of getting there amongst a tight-knit group of remarkable friends: They’ve founded space companies and published peer-reviewed papers in their teens, built Mars missions in record time and become champions in robotics, rocketry and motorsports.