About the role#
The Materials and NDE team is responsible for developing, characterizing, and inspecting the materials and processes used across the Terran-R vehicle. This role involves balancing performance and reliability with cost and schedule requirements to enable flight and vehicle reuse.
What you'll do#
- Apply materials engineering principles to Terran-R products and processes.
- Qualify materials and products for flight and reuse.
- Design and execute statistically driven experiments to improve processes.
- Collaborate with materials engineering staff to identify and fill technology gaps.
- Work with laboratory staff to characterize materials and processes.
- Support design engineers with material selection, allowables development, and failure analysis.
- Partner with manufacturing engineers to reduce costs and improve production rates.
- Coordinate with quality assurance to validate specification compliance.
- Engage with Fracture Control Boards to support vehicle reuse.
- Conduct hands-on characterization projects including mechanical testing, metallography, SEM/EDS, thermal analysis, and chemical analysis.
- Assist in the development and validation of new characterization methods for R&D.
- Communicate project results across engineering and technician teams.
What you'll need#
- Currently finishing a degree in an engineering or scientific discipline with an emphasis on materials science and engineering.
- Experience with materials and processes for reusable launch vehicles, such as material selection, qualification, damage tolerance, and risk assessments.
- Demonstrated technical understanding and problem-solving capability.
- Ability to manage multiple projects and communicate effectively within a team.
- Familiarity with aerospace alloy systems like aluminum, nickel, HSLA steels, and titanium.
- Familiarity with metal additive manufacturing technologies such as WAAM, DED, and L-PBF.
- Familiarity with metals processing techniques including forming, casting, welding, heat treating, and coating.
- Experience with materials characterization, including electron microscopy, optical microscopy, and non-destructive evaluation.
- Hands-on experience with welding or non-destructive evaluation.
Location & details#
- Location: Long Beach, California.
- Work Modality: On-site.
- Employment: Full-time internship.
- Compensation: $34 - $42 per hour.
About Relativity Space
Relativity Space operates in the aviation and aerospace component manufacturing sector. Founded in 2016, the company focuses on the development of the Terran R, a medium-to-heavy lift reusable rocket. It maintains headquarters in Long Beach, California. The organization employs between 1,001 and 5,000 people.
How to get in at Relativity Space
Securing an internship at Relativity Space requires staying ahead of the applicant pool. Because early applicants are often reviewed before the queue becomes unmanageable, Intern Insider sends an instant alert the moment a role matching your target is published. This helps you apply among the first to ensure your materials are seen. You can also improve your response rates by reaching out to the recruiters behind these roles directly. Intern Insider surfaces the specific people managing hiring for Relativity Space, allowing you to ask informed questions or request a referral to help your application stand out.
