Solar Cell Reliability Engineer (Starlink) Verified today

About the role

SpaceX is building heterojunction (HJT) solar cell production to power spacecraft and constellation assets with higher efficiency, lower mass, and proven reliability in the space environment. You will own the reliability lab and the end-to-end reliability story for solar cells in space, from wafer and cell process through module integration, environmental qualification, on-orbit performance, and continuous improvement back into manufacturing.

Your work will ensure solar cells deliver unmatched power density and durability for Starship, Starlink, AI Sat, and deep-space missions, and help provide internet to tens of millions of customers worldwide.

Responsibilities

• Own and operate the solar cell reliability lab: equipment strategy, capability roadmap, calibration, maintenance, safety, throughput, and data integrity for HJT cell and coupon reliability testing
• Define, execute, and continuously improve the space reliability test matrix for HJT solar cells, including thermal cycling, thermal vacuum, humidity/damp heat, UV/photo-stability, reverse bias/hotspot, mechanical shock/vibration, radiation exposure, and accelerated life tests
• Build and own the reliability narrative for flight and program reviews: failure modes, physics of failure, acceleration models, life predictions, margins, and acceptance/qualification logic that ties lab data to on-orbit performance
• Partner with HJT process and equipment engineering to link process parameters, metrology, and in-line defects to reliability outcomes; drive corrective actions and design-for-reliability changes
• Establish reliability gates for process changes, tool qualifications, material substitutions, and supplier changes; own risk assessment (FMEA/PFMEA interfaces), sampling plans, and release criteria
• Develop and maintain test methods, SOPs, fixturing, and automation for high-throughput, statistically defensible reliability characterization
• Lead root cause analysis on reliability failures using SEM/FIB, EDS, FTIR, PL/EL, IV, quantum efficiency, adhesion, and other failure-analysis techniques; close the loop with manufacturing and design
• Define and track reliability KPIs (degradation rates, wear-out distributions, infant mortality, lot-to-lot variation, correlation of accelerated tests to flight-like stress) and report status to leadership
• Interface with power systems, structures, thermal, radiation effects, quality, and flight reliability teams to ensure cell-level reliability is coherent with array/module and spacecraft environments
• Support flight anomaly investigation and on-orbit performance trending; update models and test strategies as flight data matures
• Mentor technicians and junior engineers; set lab culture for rigor, speed, and honest interpretation of data
• Author and present technical content for design reviews, production readiness reviews, and reliability packages

Basic qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline
• 1+ years of experience in chemical engineering, materials science, electrical engineering, physics, or mechanical engineering in design, analysis, and/or system implementation (internship and extracurricular experience is applicable)

Preferred skills and experience

• Master's degree or Ph.D. in chemistry, chemical engineering, materials science, environmental, or related technical discipline, especially in PV, thin-film devices, reliability physics, or space power systems
• 2+ years of hands-on experience in solar cell, PV module, semiconductor device, or aerospace hardware reliability
• Experience designing, running, or analyzing accelerated environmental or reliability tests and interpreting degradation/failure data
• Proficiency with data analysis tools such as Python, MATLAB, JMP, or R; comfort with statistics (distributions, confidence bounds, DOE basics)
• Ability to work full-time on-site in a production and lab environment