Thermal Development Technician - Starship
No salary listed
Entry
Texas, USA
In Person
Manufacturing & Production OperationsMachine & Process Operation
About the job
Requirements
- A high school diploma or equivalency certificate is required.
- Experience using hand tools or hand-held power tools is required.
- Ability to work one of the listed day or night shifts is required.
- Ability to work extended hours and weekends as necessary is required.
- A valid driver's license is required.
- Candidates must be able to safely work at heights up to 500 feet, use an air-purifying respirator, and meet the listed physical requirements; a pre-employment questionnaire and/or physical may be required to confirm these capabilities.
- To comply with U.S. export regulations, candidates must be a U.S. citizen or national, lawful permanent resident, refugee, or asylee, or be eligible to obtain the required U.S. Department of State authorizations.
Responsibilities
- Preprocess and manufacture ceramic fibers, filaments, and powders used to fabricate products, working with these ceramic materials.
- Fabricate ceramic refractory billets, ceramic tiles, thermal gap fillers, coatings, and other components for a thermal protection system.
- Perform basic fabrication, surface preparation, bonding, and oven curing.
- Precisely document processes so each material-processing step can be replicated.
- Inspect products and perform rework as required.
- Read and interpret engineering drawings, including drawing symbols, flag notes, and general notes.
- Assist with the maintenance and repair of production machinery.
Desired Qualifications
- Ability to use precision measuring instruments such as calipers, height gauges, and depth micrometers.
- Ability to operate personnel platforms such as boom lifts and scissor lifts.
- Ability to perform work according to procedures and specifications.
- Experience setting up assemblies and parts in processing and curing equipment, such as ovens and high-temperature kilns, to achieve the desired set and cure.
- Proficiency in accurately measuring and mixing materials using scales for tile coatings, sealants, and room-temperature-vulcanizing applications.
- Comfort working with solvents, ceramic precursors, inorganic acids, and bases.
- Experience with thermal protection systems or phenolic impregnated carbon ablator.
- Experience applying sealants, alodine, primer, adhesives, and special finishes.
- Understanding of basic mathematical concepts.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Word and Excel.
- Experience operating and maintaining Kuka or other six-axis robots.
- Experience using Siemens or other human-machine interfaces.
- Basic understanding of stud arc welding.
- Basic understanding of robotic automation.
- Experience working with programmable logic controllers in an automation setting.
About the company
SpaceX builds and launches reusable rockets and spacecraft for NASA, the military, and companies, and it runs Starlink, a satellite internet service for homes and businesses. In 2020, its Dragon capsule became the first privately built spacecraft to carry astronauts to the International Space Station. Its Falcon 9 rocket lands its first stage so the booster can fly again, which cuts launch costs, while Starlink beams internet from low-orbit satellites to small dishes for a monthly fee. SpaceX also owns xAI, maker of the Grok chatbot and owner of the social network X, and is building Starship, a fully reusable rocket meant to carry people to the Moon and Mars. Elon Musk founded SpaceX in 2002, and it is based in Starbase, Texas.
Company Size
10,001+
Company Stage
IPO
Headquarters
Starbase, Texas
Founded
2002
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Starlink demand keeps compounding: subscribers doubled to 12 million in the year to June 2026.
- Room to grow: SpaceX listed 2,693 open roles in October 2026, over a third of them for Starlink.
- Rivals rent its AI supercomputers: Claude maker Anthropic agreed in May 2026 to pay SpaceX $1.25 billion a month.
What critics are saying
- Stock grants swing hard: shares closed between $108 and $211 in the four months after the June 2026 IPO.
- Expect long weeks: 1,724 of SpaceX's 2,693 job posts in October 2026 mention extended hours and weekend work.
- AI spending outruns sales: SpaceX put $15.8 billion into AI data centers in the June 2026 quarter, double its revenue.
What makes SpaceX unique
- SpaceX is the world's busiest launcher by far: its 165 orbital launches in 2025 were nearly double China's total.
- Starlink carries the profits: it earned $1.7 billion in the June 2026 quarter, while rockets and AI lost $1.8 billion.
- Elon Musk has the final say: super-voting shares give him about 82% of shareholder votes after the June 2026 IPO.
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Benefits
- Benefits and Perks - Our employees' well-being is important to us and essential to our capacity to do extraordinary things. We offer a wide variety of programs to support the health, wellness, and financial security of our employees and their families.