---
title: 'Radiation Metrology and Test Engineer at Cowboy Space Corp.'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/radiation-metrology-and-test-engineer-cowboy-space-corp-san-carlos-fvysh1xqffat'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-08'
---

# Radiation Metrology and Test Engineer at Cowboy Space Corp.

- **Company:** Cowboy Space Corp.
- **Location:** San Carlos, CA
- **Compensation:** $185k–$200k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-11-02
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-08
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/cowboyspace/14cff58b-750d-4e52-b149-f000e3597873/application

**Skills:** Radiation effects analysis, Radiation testing, Space systems reliability engineering, Total Ionizing Dose (TID), Single Event Effects (SEE), Displacement Damage (DDD), Semiconductor devices, High-performance compute hardware, Spaceborne electronics, Radiation characterization campaigns, Architectural fault tolerance, Resilient distributed systems, NASA radiation qualification standards, ESA radiation qualification standards, ECSS radiation qualification standards, MIL-STD radiation qualification standards, Shielding optimization, Materials science, Radiation simulations, Material characterization

> Lead radiation effects analysis and resilience strategy for orbital compute systems, including semiconductor device analysis and mitigation techniques. Define architectural resilience strategies, plan radiation test campaigns, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure hardware reliability in space enviro...

## 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 Current energy and data systems rely on complex logistics and outdated infrastructure.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.

## The Role

Build the hardware, automation, and measurement systems that let us understand how electronics behave under radiation. You will own reusable radiation test infrastructure, from circuit design and bench checkout through test execution and reproducible results. Your initial focus will be a modular motherboard/daughterboard platform for heavy-ion testing of individual electronic components. You will develop the supporting instrument control, electrical characterization, event capture, and data processing needed to use that platform across different devices and campaigns. This is a hands-on individual contributor role. You will work with radiation effects engineers to translate test objectives into validated setups, with avionics designers to reproduce relevant operating conditions, and with test facilities to execute campaigns. Your continuing responsibility will be to extend and maintain the test capability as new components and engineering questions emerge. This role is located onsite in San Carlos, CA or Kent, WA.

## Responsibilities

- Develop reusable test electronics. Design and bring up motherboards, device-specific daughterboards, bias and protection circuits, fixtures, and interfaces for component radiation testing. Document the interfaces so new devices can be tested without rebuilding the entire setup.
- Build reliable test automation. Develop software for instrument control, stimulus generation, electrical characterization, event logging, and data reduction. Make runs recoverable and preserve hardware, software, and instrument configurations alongside the measurements.
- Own measurement quality. Establish calibration and verification procedures for the electrical measurement chain. Characterize uncertainty, repeatability, noise, timing, and event-detection limits so the team can distinguish device behavior from test-system artifacts.
- Prepare and execute radiation campaigns. Develop procedures, perform readiness checks, and operate test setups for heavy-ion and other component radiation tests. Coordinate sample preparation, beam access, and facility interfaces with the relevant specialists.
- Make exposure and response data traceable. Confirm required beam and dosimetry information with facility staff, record exposure conditions and device operating states, and correlate those records with electrical measurements and observed events.
- Turn test runs into engineering evidence. Characterize devices before, during, and after exposure as required; investigate unexpected results; and deliver reproducible analysis, clear reports, and documented limitations for review with radiation effects and component engineers.
- Sustain the broader test capability. Improve related characterization benches, data-acquisition tools, fixtures, documentation, and checkout procedures. Use lessons from each campaign to reduce setup errors and make future testing easier to repeat.

## Basic Qualifications

- A degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, physics, or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
- Hands-on experience testing electronic hardware under radiation, with an understanding of single-event effects and total ionizing dose.
- Experience designing, bringing up, and debugging PCB-based test hardware, including bias circuits, component interfaces, and electrical measurements.
- Ability to develop maintainable test automation and data-analysis software in Python or a comparable language.
- Practical experience with instruments such as source measure units, oscilloscopes, power supplies, and data-acquisition systems.
- Careful measurement and documentation habits: checking calibration and setup behavior, preserving raw data, investigating anomalies, and explaining the limits of a result.

## Preferred Qualifications

- Heavy-ion or proton testing at external facilities, including device preparation and beamline setup.
- High-voltage or power-semiconductor characterization, including protection and recovery during testing.
- Embedded C/C++, microcontroller or FPGA interfaces, and instrument-control libraries.
- Radiation test methods and standards, uncertainty analysis, or development of reusable test platforms.

## Why This Role Is Different

- A reusable component-test platform that has been checked out with representative devices, demonstrated its measurement and event-capture behavior, and produced a traceable radiation-test dataset. Other engineers should be able to reproduce its setup, understand its limits, and extend it to the next device.

## Compensation and Benefits

The salary range for this position is $165,000 - $190,000 annually. The actual base salary offered will depend on factors such as job-related skills, experience, qualifications, and internal equity.

- Equity in Cowboy Space Corp.
- Employees and their eligible dependents may enroll in medical, dental, and vision insurance
- 401(k) retirement savings plan
- Paid time off
- 10 paid holidays per calendar year
- Paid parental leave
- Relocation assistance if applicable
- Daily lunch in the office and a fully stocked kitchen with beverages and snacks

ITAR Requirements

- Export Control Requirement: To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), applicants 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. Learn more about ITAR [here](https://deccs.pmddtc.state.gov/deccs).

Disclaimer This job description is a summary of the primary duties and responsibilities of the job and position. It is not intended to be a comprehensive or all-inclusive listing of duties and responsibilities. Contents are subject to change at Cowboy Space Corp.’s discretion. Cowboy Space Corp. is an equal employment opportunity employer. We consider individuals for employment or promotion according to their skills, abilities and experience. Cowboy Space Corp. is committed to complying with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, religious creed, age, national origin, ancestry, physical, mental or developmental disability, sex (which includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and medical conditions relating to pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding), veteran status, military status, marital or registered domestic partnership status, medical condition (including cancer or genetic characteristics), genetic information, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, as well as any other category protected by federal, state or local laws.

## About Cowboy Space Corp.

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Cowboy Space Corp. is building a vertically integrated orbital infrastructure system—satellites, rockets, and space-based solar power—to run AI compute in Low Earth Orbit.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series B, raised $275 M in May 2026 at a $2 B valuation)
- **Headquarters**: San Carlos, California, United States (with an engineering hub in Seattle, WA)
- **Founded**: 2023 per LinkedIn; 2024 per Built In and other reports (conflicting data)
- **Founders**: Baiju Bhatt (co‑founder and former co‑CEO of Robinhood)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Space‑based AI infrastructure / Defense and Space Manufacturing
- **Target customers**: AI companies, hyperscalers, government/defense agencies that need high‑performance compute without Earth’s power‑grid constraints
- **Mission statement**: “Build the power grid for AI in space” – harnessing abundant solar power in Low Earth Orbit to run on‑orbit GPU data centers

## Products & Services
- **Stampede Constellation**: A planned 20,000‑satellite LEO constellation of orbital data centers that capture solar energy to power NVIDIA GPU racks (~800 GPUs per satellite). Inter‑satellite optical laser links provide high‑speed data transmission.
- **Purpose‑Built Launch Vehicle**: A rocket whose upper stage is itself a 1‑megawatt data center with active thermal management and integrated compute, eliminating redundant structure and mass. First launch targeted before end of 2028.
- **Space‑Based Solar Power**: Satellites in dawn‑dusk sun‑synchronous orbits capture near‑continuous solar energy, beaming power wirelessly via infrared lasers (first demo satellite built with Apex Space).
- **NVIDIA Space‑1 Vera Rubin Modules**: Custom AI compute hardware designed for LEO, integrated into the Stampede satellites.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: $2 B as of the Series B round in May 2026
- **Key Metric**: Total funding ~$335 M (Series B $275 M + Series A $50 M + seed/pre‑seed ~$10 M). Annual revenue is not publicly available.
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Index Ventures (lead, Series B), IVP, Blossom Capital, SAIC, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Construct Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, NEA, Interlagos, Baiju Bhatt (personal capital). Partnered with NVIDIA, Apex Space, and the U.S. Department of Defense (OECIF funding).
- **Growth Signals**: 
  - Headcount grew ~205 % year‑over‑year (42 employees per LinkedIn mid‑2026; Built In reports 61 total employees – conflicting data)
  - Filed FCC application in May 2026 for a 20,000‑satellite orbital data center system
  - Opened a Seattle engineering hub in March 2026
  - Won DoD funding for power beam proof‑of‑concept; received Commercial Spaceflight Federation membership

## Competitive Advantages
- **Full‑stack integration**: The rocket’s upper stage is the satellite itself, eliminating redundant mass and dedicated launch‑satellite interfaces, allowing more compute per kilogram.
- **Space‑based solar power**: Satellites in sun‑synchronous orbits harvest near‑continuous solar energy, bypassing terrestrial grid bottlenecks that take 5–7 years for new data center connections.
- **Vertically owned manufacturing and launch**: Controls the entire value chain – from launch vehicle to orbital data center and optical data transmission – enabling rapid iteration and scale.

## Strategic Focus
- Scale the Stampede constellation to thousands of satellites, each hosting hundreds of GPUs, to deliver orbital compute at a scale impossible on Earth.
- Launch the first satellite (power beaming demo with Apex Space) and complete the first integrated vehicle launch before 2028.
- Continue to partner with defense and government agencies (e.g., DoD) while also serving commercial AI customers.
- Rebranded from “Aetherflux” in May 2026 to unify the company’s identity around the “Cowboy” mission.

## Why Work Here
- **Team pedigree**: Engineers from SpaceX, Blue Origin, NASA/JPL, Astranis, Anduril, Amazon Kuiper, NVIDIA, and Robinhood. Strong aerospace and AI/ML culture.
- **Work model**: Hybrid – employees engage in a combination of remote and on‑site work; many roles are listed as “in‑office” in San Carlos or Seattle.
- **Culture & perks**: A fast‑paced startup tackling one of the hardest infrastructure problems (space‑based AI compute). Roles span electrical engineering, optical comms, GNC, firmware, supply chain, and talent acquisition. Emphasis on “building the future” and strengthening U.S. energy independence and national security.
- **Growth opportunity**: Joining a company that has just raised a $275 M Series B at a $2 B valuation, with aggressive hiring across technical and leadership positions.

## Sources
1. [cowboyspace.com](https://www.cowboyspace.com/)
2. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/cowboyspace)
3. [builtin.com](https://builtin.com/company/cowboy-space-corporation)
4. [siliconvalleyinvestclub.com](https://siliconvalleyinvestclub.com/cowboy-space/)

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