Spacecraft Mission Testbed Technician

ABOUT FIREFLY AEROSPACE

Firefly Aerospace is a space and defense technology company on a mission to reliably and repeatedly launch, land, and operate space systems from Earth to the Moon and beyond. As the partner of choice for critical space missions, Firefly is the first commercial company to launch a satellite to orbit with 24-hour notice and the first company to achieve a successful Moon landing. Headquartered in north Austin, Texas, Firefly is looking for passionate, hardworking innovators to join our team and help fuel our successful trajectory into space.

SUMMARY

The Spacecraft Mission Testbed Technician is responsible for the hands-on assembly, integration, operation, maintenance, and troubleshooting of Firefly's Hardware-in-the-Loop (HITL) spacecraft mission testbeds. Working across multiple spacecraft programs, this role builds and supports FlatSat, RackSat, Payload Integration Test (PIT), and other mission test environments that enable spacecraft integration, software development, system verification, and mission readiness.

As the first technician within the Mission Testbed Development organization, this position requires an exceptional level of technical ownership, initiative, and independent decision-making. The technician is expected to identify problems before they impact programs, recommend improvements to infrastructure and processes, and serve as the primary technical resource for daily testbed operations. This role will help establish the organization's technical standards and will ultimately provide leadership and mentorship to future testbed technicians as the team expands.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Assemble, integrate, and maintain spacecraft mission testbeds including FlatSats, RackSats, PIT systems, and supporting laboratory infrastructure.
• Install, configure, and verify avionics hardware, harnesses, instrumentation, power systems, networking equipment, and simulation hardware.
• Perform troubleshooting of electrical, mechanical, and integration issues to rapidly restore testbed functionality while documenting root causes and corrective actions.
• Support spacecraft hardware integration, checkout, functional testing, and engineering development activities across multiple concurrent programs.
• Fabricate and modify harnesses, interface panels, breakout boxes, mechanical fixtures, and other test support hardware as required.
• Maintain laboratory readiness by managing tooling, equipment, consumables, calibration status, and general organization of the test environment.
• Execute configuration changes in accordance with established configuration management processes while ensuring hardware accurately reflects approved engineering documentation.
• Identify opportunities to improve testbed reliability, maintainability, and ease of integration, and work with engineers to implement improvements.
• Support deployment, installation, and maintenance of offsite testbeds at customer and partner facilities as required.
• Develop work instructions, assembly documentation, troubleshooting guides, and technician best practices.
• Provide technical mentorship and training to future technicians as the Mission Testbed Development organization grows.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

• 7+ years of hands-on experience supporting aerospace, spacecraft, defense, aviation, or other complex electromechanical systems.
• Demonstrated experience assembling, integrating, troubleshooting, and operating complex electrical and mechanical hardware.
• Strong ability to interpret engineering drawings, wiring diagrams, schematics, CAD models, and assembly documentation.
• Experience fabricating and modifying electrical harnesses, interface cables, and test hardware.
• Experience using laboratory instrumentation including oscilloscopes, multimeters, power supplies, electronic loads, and data acquisition equipment.
• Proven troubleshooting skills with electrical, mechanical, and integrated system-level hardware.
• Experience working directly with engineering teams during hardware integration, development, and test campaigns.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently with minimal supervision while managing multiple priorities.
• Strong organizational skills with experience maintaining accurate documentation and configuration records.
• Ability to lift hardware, work around laboratory equipment, and support occasional travel to customer or partner facilities.

Desired

• Experience supporting spacecraft integration, environmental testing, or Hardware-in-the-Loop (HITL) testbeds.
• Experience with FlatSat, RackSat, avionics development, or spacecraft electrical integration.
• Experience fabricating complex spacecraft or aerospace wiring harnesses and interface panels.
• Experience supporting EGSE, simulation systems, or spacecraft command and telemetry equipment.
• Familiarity with avionics communication protocols such as Ethernet, CAN, RS-422/485, SpaceWire, MIL-STD-1553, or similar.
• Experience using CAD models and electrical design documentation to support hardware integration.
• Experience with soldering, crimping, cable fabrication, and connector assembly to aerospace workmanship standards.
• Experience supporting engineering development rather than strictly production operations.
• Experience developing work instructions, assembly procedures, or technical documentation.
• Experience mentoring junior technicians or serving as a technical lead on integration activities.
• Familiarity with configuration management processes for engineering hardware.
• Experience working in a fast-paced spacecraft startup or advanced R&D environment.
• Experience working with external customers, government agencies, or industry partners on integrated spacecraft programs.

Firefly offers outstanding benefits for our employees, including generous health, dental and vision plans with low plan deductibles, parental leave, educational reimbursement, short term disability, and flexible PTO options.

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Firefly is governed based on merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.