HIL Engineer — Huracan Rocket Engine

Here at The Exploration Company, we are building spacecrafts for humanity.   About the role The Exploration Company is developing Huracan, a cryogenic rocket engine. The engine integrates e-pumps, power electronics, valves, embedded software, and control systems. We are seeking a Hardware-in-the-Loop Engineer to develop and operate HIL platforms for verifying the ECU, PDU, Valve Controller, inverter, electric pumps, and associated software. You will connect real hardware to real-time simulations, automate testing and data analysis, and develop emulator hardware for sensors, actuators, interfaces, and subsystem behaviour. You will verify nominal and fault conditions while ensuring test repeatability, traceability, and early fault detection. You will work closely with propulsion, embedded-software, power-electronics, control-systems, and hardware engineers to validate Huracan from simulation through laboratory testing. Key responsibilities • Design, build, and maintain the HIL test environment for our engine propulsion system, from engine controller board level up to the integrated propulsion subsystem • Define and implement the hardware and software architecture of the propulsion HIL bench, including signal conditioning, load and fault-insertion hardware, and real-time targets • Integrate real-time plant models (e.g., feed system, valves, pumps and motors, combustion chamber, thermal behaviour) into NI VeriStand and close the loop with the engine control unit • Emulate and simulate the sensors the controller depends on (e.g., pressure transducers, thermocouples and RTDs, flow meters, position and speed feedback) with flight-representative electrical characteristics • Emulate or integrate actuators and power electronics, such as valve drivers, motor inverters, igniters, and their control units, as real hardware, electrical loads, or models • Develop LabVIEW-based applications for desktop and real-time platforms (e.g., PXI, cRIO), including custom devices and bus interfaces (e.g., CAN, RS-422/485, Ethernet) • Implement fault injection at the electrical and model level to verify engine start-up, shutdown, and abort sequences as well as FDIR behaviour • Support test execution, data acquisition, logging, and automated reporting during verification campaigns • Validate and correlate simulation models against component-level and engine test data together with the propulsion team • Create and maintain technical documentation, including architecture specifications, interface definitions, model and code documentation, and user guides • Debug and troubleshoot across the bench, the models, and the unit under test, and continuously improve the test platform You will be in charge of • Delivering a robust and scalable HIL platform whose models, I/O configuration, and test sequences can be reused across engine configurations and projects • Running control loops and plant models deterministically at the rates the engine controller requires, using NI hardware, LabVIEW RT, and FPGA where timing demands it • Defining test automation workflows using NI TestStand and integrating them into the propulsion and system-level verification process • Coordinating closely with propulsion, avionics, and flight software engineers to ensure requirements traceability and test coverage • Keeping models, bench hardware, and test software under configuration control so that every test run is reproducible • Contributing to the continuous evolution of our HiL infrastructure, with an emphasis on performance, reliability, and maintainability • Ensuring all solutions meet space-grade quality and safety standards, aligned with project requirements Must-Have Skills and Qualifications • Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Aerospace E