Spacecraft Engineering Internship (Avionics) - Fall 2025

About Varda

Low Earth orbit is open for business. Varda is accelerating the development of commercial space infrastructure, from in-orbit pharmaceutical processing to reliable and economical reentry capsules. 

From life-saving pharmaceuticals to more powerful fiber optics, there is a world of products used on Earth today that can only be manufactured in space. Varda is accelerating innovation in the orbital economy by creating both the products and infrastructure needed so space can directly benefit life on Earth. Our mission is to expand the economic bounds of humankind. 

Our team is uniquely suited to accomplishing this goal, with leadership and staff comprised of veterans from SpaceX, Blue Origin, major pharmaceutical companies and Silicon Valley. Varda was founded in January 2021 by Will Bruey and Delian Asparouhov with significant backing from world class investors including Khosla Ventures, Lux Capital, Founders Fund, Caffeinated Capital, General Catalyst, and Also Capital. 

Varda is headquartered in El Segundo, California, where we have offices and a production facility where our vehicles, equipment, and materials are built, integrated, and tested. Varda also has offices in Washington, DC and Huntsville, AL (coming soon).

Join Varda, and work to create a bustling in-space ecosystem.

 

About This Role 

Fall internships will range between the months of September and January. All dates dependent upon the university schedule of the selected students. Internships are full-time and on-site in Los Angeles, CA.

The Avionics Team is responsible for all electronics on the spacecraft, ranging from flight computers, to batteries, and  radios. Across the different disciplines, interns can look forward to owning a new circuit design and owning it from start to finish, allowing them to capture schematics, perform layout, manufacture, and test hardware within their internship period. Come work with the team and help design the future electronics for our Spacecraft.

Internships at Varda are optimal for students looking to grow technically and professionally while working on impactful projects critical to the company’s success. You will be working on a collaborative team in a startup environment while being able to learn from some of most accomplished and experienced aerospace professionals in the world. We’re dedicated to providing an experience that will let your decisions and contributions help drive Varda’s success. 

Responsibilities

• Own or contribute to hardware or software design to support development of Spacecraft or payload 
• Create or support test campaigns and build test stands 
• Perform necessary analysis to support development and testing 

Basic Qualifications

• Familiarity with Altium, LTSpice, Oscilloscopes, Electronic Loads, and DMMs
• Prior experience designing a PCBA, testing, and debugging it.
• Experience communicating with electronics via UART, RS232, RS242, or Ethernet along with how to send and receive binary messages.
• Strong background scripting in Python

Preferred Skills And Experience 

• Previous internship or co-op experience 
• Previous experience on technical project teams (i.e. Rocket club, formula SAE, etc.)  
• Electrical Engineer: Familiarity with Altium, Matlab, Python, PCB design, Circuit Debugging, Oscilloscopes, Component Test Racks, Hardware-in-the-loop testing (HIL or HITL), wire harness design and building 
• Software Engineer: Familiarity with Microprocessors and/or FPGAs, C/C++, Python scripting experience, experience setting up CI pipelines and unit tests 

ITAR Requirements

• Varda, like all employers, must ensure that its employees working in the United States are lawfully authorized to work in the U.S.  Additionally, our employees are exposed to and have access to certain export-controlled items. At present, some of our technology to which employees have access requires a license to be exported to individuals other than “U.S. Persons” as defined in U.S. export regulations. Because our employees are provided access to export-controlled items, our current policy is to only hire “U.S. persons” who are permitted to have access to our technology without an export license. 

  “US person” means: U.S. citizen, U.S. lawful permanent resident, or protected