Stage Propulsion
Responsible Engineer
Role Overview
As a Responsible Engineer on the Falcon 9 Stage Propulsion team, I served as the sole owner of multiple flight-critical fluid systems, accountable for their design, analysis, performance, and reliability from initial concept through launch operations. My scope included both single-use and multi-flight systems, balancing development of new designs with iterative upgrades to extend reusability and improve reliability.
​
I actively communicated across various teams throughout the build, integration, and test process to support my hardware from subcomponent manufacturing through launch and re-flight. Rapid support of operations on the Hawthorne production floor and off-site test and launch facilities allowed me to bridge the design intent with actual hardware performance. This end-to-end involvement enabled rapid troubleshooting, analysis-informed action, and risk evaluation of off-nominal performance critical to maintaining SpaceX’s high launch cadence.
Key Skills
-
​End-to-End System Design
-
​System Ownership
-
Flight-critical Risk Evaluation
-
Cross-team & Cross-site communication
-
Qualification Test Design & Execution
Software
NX, FEMAP, ANSYS, NASGRO, VSCode
Starlink V2 Mini Payload Deploy
Propulsion System
System purpose: timing-critical actuation of the Deploy mechanisms.
Starting in 2022, I owned the full lifecycle, stepping in at a critical phase to complete analysis and qualification testing for Block 1 hardware. After demonstrating strong technical leadership, I assumed full system ownership and led the Block 3 redesign.​​​
System Design
Key Skills Developed
-
System & Hardware Design:
-
Redesigned fluid system architecture, including tubing, tray assembly, and secondary components to improve manufacturing, reliability, and packaging with adjacent systems
-
-
Structural & Fluid Analysis:
-
Performed structural, pressure, and flow assessments to ensure design margin and flight readiness.
-
-
Cross-Team Integration:
-
Partnered with Avionics, Payload Structures, and Manufacturing teams to align design interfaces and resolve integration challenges.
-
-
Supply Chain Coordination:
-
Collaborated closely with suppliers and SpaceX procurement to source components and maintain aggressive development timelines.
-
-
Qualification & Test Development:
-
Designed test fixtures and procedures meeting SpaceX and NASA-STD requirements for qualification and acceptance testing.
-
-
Product Validation & Production Rollout:
-
Led validation of first articles, analyzed test data, and integrated manufacturing feedback to enable efficient production introduction.
-
End-to-End System Ownership
Fairing Recovery, Starlink V2 Mini Payload Deploy, Internal Pressure Manifolds, Stage 2
Fairing Recovery
The Falcon 9 fairing serves as a hypersonic aerodynamic shield that deploys into an autonomously controlled spacecraft/reentry vehicle that lands softly in the ocean, recovered, and reused many times.