About the role#
General Astronautics builds autonomous robotic arms for orbital inspection, repair, and assembly. These systems allow spacecraft to manipulate, replace, and upgrade hardware in microgravity. We are hiring Mechanical Engineering Interns for Summer 2027 to design, build, and test our robotic hardware. You will work on mechanism design, CAD, analysis, prototyping, and integration of robotic joints, end effectors, and structures.
This role involves high ownership. You will work with your mentor and the founding team to take hardware from initial requirements through a tested assembly. You will move between design, manufacturing, and testing to support our upcoming demonstration mission.
What you'll do#
- Own a mechanism or subassembly from requirements and trade studies through detailed design, prototyping, and testing.
- Develop CAD models and engineering drawings, including material selection, tolerances, and assembly processes.
- Perform hand calculations and FEA to evaluate structural margins and validate designs across expected load conditions.
- Build prototypes, test fixtures, and instrumentation to evaluate hardware performance.
- Write and execute test plans, analyze results, and use findings to improve your designs.
- Support qualification and acceptance testing for parabolic flight and on-orbit demonstration hardware.
- Produce drawings, analysis reports, bills of materials, and assembly documentation.
- Evaluate manufacturability, cost, and design risk while integrating your hardware with the robot, payload, and vehicle.
What you'll need#
- Enrollment in a bachelor's degree program in Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Computer Science, or Mathematics.
- A GPA of 3.5 or above.
- At least 6 months of hands-on technical work outside the classroom, such as research, project teams, personal builds, or prior internships.
- Strong fundamentals in prototyping, order-of-magnitude estimation, and hand calculations.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills to work with engineers, technicians, and the founding team.
- Ability to take ownership of technical problems and adapt as priorities change.
Location & details#
- This is a paid, full-time internship based on-site in El Segundo, California.
- The term is for Summer 2027.
- This position does not offer visa sponsorship.
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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