You’ll sit at the heart of bringing our satellites to life. You’ll lead critical ground-side test campaigns, guide cross-functional teams, and shape the systems and processes that ensure every vehicle performs flawlessly from first power-on through on-orbit activities
In this role, you’ll mentor others while staying close to the hardware: commanding powered spacecraft, resolving anomalies in real time, and driving readiness for launch. Your leadership will raise the bar on quality, reliability, and speed, building the foundation for repeatable, high-confidence operations. As we evolve from hands-on procedures to a highly automated production operation, you’ll define the standards, tools, and best practices that make that transformation possible. Your work will directly influence how we scale, how we operate, and how fast we can put new capability on-orbit
If you thrive at the intersection of engineering rigor, system-level thinking, and high-stakes operations, this role puts you in a unique position to shape the future of production test at K2 Space
Operate spacecraft (interpret telemetry, send commands) during system tests at the factory, test facilities, launch sites, and during pre-launch operations
Collaborate with design and systems engineers to define test plans with pass/fail criteria for vehicle checkouts
Mentor more junior members of the team
Interface with customers to scope testing performed on their payloads, based on expected functions and failure modes of interest
Manage relationships with launch vehicle providers, including contractual deliverables such as interface control documents and environmental test plan justifications
Assess risks associated with different integration and test approaches, justify test reductions and optimize vehicle build/test flows for at-rate production
Own and maintain HITL table configuration and build out, including the test racks
Influence the design of the vehicle’s flight software and the supporting in-house tools that operators use daily
Understand vehicle operations and become an expert for multiple subsystems on the vehicle
Support pre-launch activities at the launch provider’s payload processing facility