Fluids Analyst at Cowboy Space Corp. in Washington, DC

Job description

About Cowboy Space Corp: Mission Cowboy Space Corporation is solving the global energy crisis by building the infrastructure for abundant, resilient space-based solar energy. We are tackling one of humanity’s most complex engineering challenges with a world-class team dedicated to delivering a revolutionary power platform. Cowboy Space Corporation is transforming how civilization powers, computes and connects - from orbit to Earth. Background Cowboy Space Corporation is building the infrastructure to power and connect the orbital economy. Our modular, scalable satellites collect sunlight in Low Earth Orbit to enable multiple integrated applications: transmitting energy via infrared lasers (space-to-earth and space-to-space), powering on-orbit high-performance computing clusters (GPU/TPU), and providing secure, high bandwidth optical data transport. Current energy and data systems rely on complex logistics and outdated infrastructure. Cowboy Space Corporation overcomes these challenges by enabling direct, on-demand, secure, and scalable energy distribution and data processing from space. This will revolutionize how we operate in orbit and on Earth, supporting the rapidly expanding space industrial base, ISAM (In-Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing) operations, remote regions, and military bases. Baiju Bhatt founded Cowboy Space Corporation in 2024. Inspired by his father’s work with NASA Langley Research Center, Baiju earned his B.S. in Physics and M.S. in Mathematics at Stanford before co-founding Robinhood, now a public company that has helped over 20 million Americans access the financial system. Cowboy Space Corporation has raised ~$365 million from Index Ventures, Interlagos, Construct Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, NEA, and others. This is an ambitious mission that demands extraordinary talent. Cowboy Space Corporation’s team has worked at places like SpaceX, Blue Origin, Stoke Space, Astranis and NASA, and is based in San Carlos, CA. If you're ready to solve complex technical challenges and help build the most important energy company in the world, we want to hear from you. About the Role As a Fluids Analyst, you will own fluids prediction for the team — the models, the analysis, and the data that back every fluid system decision we make. You are accountable for the full lifecycle of that prediction: standing up early system models before hardware exists, sizing and trading architectures against pressure drop, flow capability, and thermal performance, then closing the loop by reducing test data and correlating it back into the models. You will work closely with fluids design, propulsion, thermal, structures, and test operations, and your predictions will directly set or verify component sizing, test objectives, and flight limits. This is a hands-on analysis role for someone who wants to be in the test bay watching the data come in, not just running cases. You’ll be expected to move quickly, iterate often, and take full ownership of the fluid models the team relies on. Responsibilities • Own the full lifecycle of fluids prediction and data for the team — from first-order sizing models through correlated, test-anchored models used for flight. • Build and maintain 1D fluid network and transient system models of engine and vehicle fluid systems to predict pressure drop, flow capability, and thermal performance. • Perform early-phase simulation and trade studies to inform architecture selection, line and orifice sizing, valve and regulator selection, and pressurization schedules before hardware is committed. • Predict flow capability and pressure budgets across the system: line and fitting losses, flow distribution and manifold balance, cavitation and choked-flow margin, NPSH, and engine inlet conditions. • Analyze transient behavior — water hammer, priming and chill-in, valve sequencing, blowdown and ullage collapse, tank pressurization and thermal stratification. • Perform CFD analysis