About the role#
General Astronautics is hiring engineering students for Summer 2027. You will work alongside mentors and the founding team on hardware projects destined for orbit. This role involves writing code, building physical systems, and running experiments that impact our upcoming demo mission. You will work across the full technical stack within a small team.
What you'll do#
- Own a mechanism or subassembly from initial requirements through to finished hardware.
- Run trade studies and support your work using first principles engineering methods.
- Build and iterate detailed CAD models and mechanical drawings.
- Make decisions regarding materials, tolerances, and assembly sequences.
- Use classical and FEA analysis to verify designs.
- Write and execute test plans, build fixtures, wire instrumentation, and analyze data.
- Support qualification and acceptance campaigns.
- Produce complete design packages including drawings, analysis reports, BOMs, and assembly documentation.
- Run cost and manufacturability trades while balancing design risk against project schedules.
What you'll need#
- Enrollment in a bachelor's degree program in Computer Science, Physics, or Engineering (Computer, Electrical, Mechanical, or Aerospace) by the start of employment.
- A GPA of 3.5 or higher.
- At least 6 months of hands-on technical experience outside of the classroom.
- Proficiency in prototyping, order-of-magnitude estimations, and hand calculations.
- Experience with mechanisms, electromechanical hardware, tooling design, and testing structures.
- Proficiency in CAD software like Siemens NX or SOLIDWORKS.
- Experience with simulation tools such as MATLAB and Ansys.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- Ability to work in a startup environment.
- U.S. citizenship, lawful permanent residency, or eligibility for authorization under U.S. export regulations.
Location & details#
- This is a full-time, paid internship based on-site in San Francisco, California.
- The term is for Summer 2027.
- The role requires a minimum of 12 weeks on-site.
- You may be required to work extended hours and weekends to support project milestones.
About General Astronautics
General Astronautics is a robotics engineering firm based in San Francisco. Founded in 2025, the company develops systems for microgravity research and manufacturing. It focuses on processes that benefit from space environments, such as protein crystallization and semiconductor production. The team consists of four employees.
How to get in at General Astronautics
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