Propulsion Systems Engineer (Aerospace)

Location: Primarily onsite in Bordeaux, France, with travel to the company premises in Munich, Germany.

Salary: €50,000–€82,500 per year, depending on location and technical merit.

Company

The Exploration Company develops aerospace technologies for the future of space transportation.

What you will do

• Own the functional architecture and performance of the propellant feed system for a storable MON3-MMH bipropellant propulsion system.
• Define system architecture, subsystem requirements, sizing activities, sensitivity analyses, and functional simulations.
• Develop and maintain steady-state and transient fluid-system models covering pressure drop, flow rates, water hammer, thruster cross-coupling, and priming behavior.
• Analyze nominal and off-nominal operation, failure modes, mitigation strategies, and design margins.
• Lead cold-flow, functional, and hot-fire verification activities from component through assembly level, correlating test data with predictive models.
• Support integration, qualification, operations reviews, design reviews, FMEA, test readiness reviews, and cross-functional vehicle operations.

Requirements

• Master’s or PhD degree in Aerospace Engineering or a related field.
• Hands-on experience designing liquid propulsion systems for launch vehicles, spacecraft, or space capsules.
• Proven experience with Python and 0D–1D fluid simulation tools such as EcosimPro or equivalent.
• Deep understanding of fluid mechanics, heat transfer, and compressible flow.
• Experience with version control systems such as Git or SVN.
• Fluent English required. German or French is an asset.

Nice to have

• Experience with storable propulsion systems.

Culture & Benefits

• Agile decision-making while maintaining focus on technical goals and system integrity.
• Open, transparent, and collaborative multidisciplinary environment.
• Autonomous work with collaboration across remote teams.
• Relocation assistance, including visa sponsorship where applicable.
• Work focused on advancing and democratizing space transportation.

Hiring process

• Submit a CV for consideration.
• Employment offers are contingent on a background check applicable to the country, role, and project.