---
title: 'Senior Reliability Test Engineer at Astranis'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-reliability-test-engineer-astranis-san-francisco-9ffwwkjre7at'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-05'
---

# Senior Reliability Test Engineer at Astranis

- **Company:** Astranis
- **Location:** San Francisco, CA
- **Compensation:** $145k–$235k
- **Posted:** 2026-08-28
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-05
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/astranis/jobs/4709397006

## Job description

Astranis builds advanced satellites for high orbits, expanding humanity’s reach into the solar system. Today, Astranis satellites provide dedicated, secure networks to highly-sophisticated customers across the globe— large enterprises, sovereign governments, and the US military. With five satellites on orbit and many more set to launch soon, the company is servicing a backlog of more than $1 billion of commercial contracts.

Astranis is the preferred satellite communications partner for buyers with stringent requirements for uptime, data security, network visibility, and customization. Astranis has raised over $750 million from some of the world’s best investors, from Andreessen Horowitz to Blackrock and Fidelity, and employs a team of 450 engineers and entrepreneurs. Astranis designs, builds, and operates its satellites out of its 153,000 sq. ft. headquarters in Northern California, USA.

Senior Reliability Test Engineer

As a Senior Reliability Test Engineer you work at the intersection of every engineering discipline to ensure our hardware meets the highest bar for quality and reliability. You own reliability for complex electromechanical and electronic hardware from concept through high-rate production and on-orbit operations. You set the targets, build the analyses and test frameworks that prove them, own the labs and tooling that generate the evidence, and lead the investigations when hardware fails. The ideal candidate is self-driven and has designed reliability test campaigns from the ground up.

- Develop and execute qualification and validation test plans: environmental, accelerated life, shock, vibration, thermal cycling, HALT, and HASS.
- Design, build, and automate test equipment, fixturing, and instrumentation end to end in Python, maximizing throughput against rapid design cycles.
- Establish reliability targets across PCBAs, power electronics, avionics, actuators, batteries, high-speed digital and RF systems, and develop the unit-level mission profiles that every prediction and test profile derives from.
- Review block diagrams, interface control documents, and schematics and guide teams on design for reliability before designs lock.
- Lead DFMEA and Fault Tree Analysis with cross-functional teams, and convert the output into design verification plans and implemented design changes.
- Build and maintain reliability models as living artifacts. Create physics-of-failure predictions, mission risk quantification, and Weibull analysis on qualification, production, and field data.
- Serve as the escalation point for reliability risks: triage severity, then lead containment and root-cause investigation of high-impact failures from validation, production, and on-orbit anomalies.
- Coordinate failure analysis and destructive physics analysis using: electrical characterization, microscopy, thermal imaging, X-ray, CT, cross-sectioning, and SEM-EDS.
- Perform analyses on field telemetry, identify performance and degradation trends, update mission profiles, and influence upstream teams to prioritize work that prevents reliability failures.
- Define entry and exit criteria for program gates and mentor engineers to raise reliability capability across the company.

## Requirements

- B.S. in Mechanical, Electrical, Physics, Materials Science, or an equivalent technical discipline.
- 5+ years in reliability, test, or design engineering on high-reliability hardware or 3+ years with an M.S.
- Hands-on testing experience with mechanical, electrical, and electromechanical systems, and with a wide range of sensors, actuators, instrumentation, and DAQ devices.
- Experience standing up reliability engineering frameworks for a product or program, covering detailed reliability analysis, development testing, production testing, and field data analysis,
- Experience generating qualification test requirements and executing tests that proactively characterize product behavior and iteratively improve designs and reliability estimates.
- Domain depth in one or more of: EEE piece parts, avionics, PCBA reliability, battery systems, EV powertrain or HV devices, thermal systems, actuators, or solar cells.
- Experience owning reliability infrastructure: test labs and chambers, failure analysis equipment, metrology and instrumentation, automatic testing equipment and fixtures.
- Proven track record of driving systemic improvements and shaping engineering strategy.
- Expertise in reliability analysis: FMEA/FMECA, FTA, predictive modeling, and Weibull analysis.
- Failure investigation experience with a proven record of solving problems and preventing recurrence.
- Design review experience (PDR, CDR, MRR) and confidence presenting to every level of leadership.
- Strong technical writing: test plans, reports, requirements, standards, and specifications.
- Working proficiency in Python, C++, or your coding language of choice.

Bonus

- M.S. in an engineering discipline, or a degree specifically in Reliability Engineering.
- Familiarity with ASTM, JEDEC, IEEE, ISO, and MIL test standards.
- Weibull++, ReliaSoft, or equivalent
- HV testing experience
- JMP, Python, or R for data analysis
- Familiarity with Linux, shell scripting, software/firmware HITL/SITL, and Python/SQL for data analysis.

What we offer:

All our positions offer a compensation package that includes equity and robust benefits.

Base pay is just one component of Astranis’s total rewards package. Your compensation also includes a significant equity package via incentive stock options, high-quality company-subsidized healthcare, disability and life insurance, 401(k) retirement planning, flexible PTO, and free on-site catered meals.

Astranis pay ranges are informed and defined through professional-grade salary surveys and compensation data sources. The actual base salary offered to a successful candidate will additionally be influenced by a variety of factors including experience, credentials & certifications, educational attainment, skill level requirements, and the level and scope of the position.

Base Salary $145,000—$235,000 USD

U.S. Citizenship, Lawful Permanent Residency, or Refugee/Asylee Status Required

(To comply with U.S. Government space technology export regulations, applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the United States, or other protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3))

Our mission and products are built for everyone, regardless of gender, race, creed, or background. We believe in a diverse and inclusive workplace, and we invite all people to join our team and bring their unique perspectives to make us stronger.

SMS Terms of Service

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## a. STOP

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1. For help, reply HELP or contact us at EMAIL or PHONE NUMBER.
2. Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.
3. Message and data rates may apply. Message frequency may vary. Contact your wireless provider for details.
4. For more information on how we handle your data, please review our Privacy Policy at: https://www.astranis.com/legal/privacy.

## About Astranis

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Astranis designs, builds, and operates small, radiation-hardened geostationary (GEO) satellites for dedicated broadband and government missions.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series E, total funding >$1.2B)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2015
- **Founders**: John Gedmark (CEO), Ryan McLinko (CTO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Space Research and Technology – geostationary communications satellites.
- **Target customers**: Telecommunications operators (B2B), U.S. Government (Space Force, NASA), allied nations.
- **Mission statement**: “Connect the world” and “extend humanity’s reach beyond Low Earth Orbit.”

## Products & Services
- **[MicroGEO]**: A small, radiation-hardened GEO satellite that delivers dedicated broadband (up to 8.5 Gbit/s per satellite). Used for commercial connectivity and government missions (communications, PNT, science).
- **[Government Programs]**: Prime contractor for Space Force’s Resilient GPS program; contracts with NASA and other defense partners for high-orbit spacecraft.
- **[Satellite Services]**: End‑to‑end design, manufacture, test, and operation of GEO satellites. Over $1 billion in satellite services sold across 10+ satellites on contract.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not publicly disclosed.
- **Key Metric**: Total funding raised >$1.2 billion (latest Series E of $450M added in 2025).
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: BlackRock, Venrock, Andreessen Horowitz, Y Combinator (Winter 2016 cohort). Customers include Pacific Dataport (Alaska), Orbits Corp (Philippines), Thaicom (Thailand), Orbith (Argentina), Apco Networks (Mexico), and U.S. Space Force.
- **Growth Signals**:
  - Headcount: 439 employees (+21.4% YoY) as of mid‑2025.
  - 5 satellites currently on orbit; 10+ under contract.
  - Goal to launch 100 satellites by 2030.
  - Selected to design next‑gen Resilient GPS satellites for Space Force.
  - Expanded into government science, PNT, and national security missions.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Only company building small, radiation‑hardened satellites for GEO** – traditional GEO satellites are behemoths costing hundreds of millions; Astranis’s compact design slashes cost and lead time.
- **In‑house manufacturing and testing** at Historic Pier 70 (San Francisco) – full vertical integration from machining to final test.
- **Radiation‑tolerant electronics** that survive the harsh GEO environment without expensive custom radiation‑hardened components.
- **Dedicated satellite networks** – each MicroGEO provides a private, resilient link, unlike shared LEO constellations.

## Strategic Focus
- Scale production to 100+ satellites by 2030, targeting both commercial broadband and major U.S. Government programs of record.
- Expand beyond communications into position, navigation, and timing (PNT), science, and national security missions.
- Strengthen “New Prime” role for defense space contracts.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: “Calling, not a career” – mission‑driven team working on the world’s most advanced high‑orbit satellites.
- **Work model**: Fully in‑person, 5 days per week at a historic factory/shipyard turned spaceship factory.
- **Compensation**: Competitive pay, broad equity ownership, and comprehensive health/wealth/well‑being benefits.
- **Impact**: Directly connect millions of people to affordable internet and support U.S. national security from space.
- **Growth**: 131 active job openings across hardware, software, manufacturing, operations, and government programs (as of mid‑2025).

## Sources
1. [astranis.com](https://www.astranis.com/)
2. [astranis.com/careers](https://www.astranis.com/careers)
3. [LinkedIn – Astranis](https://www.linkedin.com/company/astranis)
4. [Wikipedia – Astranis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astranis)
5. [Greenhouse – Astranis Jobs](http://job-boards.greenhouse.io/astranis)

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