Welcome to Growbotics

Help us change the status-quo of the space industry and prevent satellites from being single-use. Develop a programme of thought leadership to help us communicate to and influence the sector, to adopt a circular in orbit economy. Engage with key customers and stakeholders to understand the barriers to adoption. Get involved in company business decision making and day to day Entrepreneurial activities in an early-stage start up.

Growbotics is a small space startup founded 1 year ago with a mission to create a circular on-orbit economy. We want to protect the space environment for future generations. Just as the oceans have been polluted by single-use plastics, space is fast becoming the latest environment to be damaged by single-use solutions. We want to change this.

We will enable serviceability-by-design for new sustainable space infrastructure. We are developing innovative technologies to reduce the need for new single use satellites, and provide consultancy services to remove barriers to entry and increase adoption of sustainable design.

Our values

At Growbotics we pride ourselves on building a diverse and inclusive environment for our whole team, where individuality is core to everything that we do. This is underpinned by our goal to leave the universe in a better state than we found it. Our company values aim to reflect this goal.

• Empowering individuality - allowing every team member to self-define how they present themselves personally and professionally

• Accountability - understanding that every team member has ownership of their decisions

• Transparency and openness - creating an environment based on communication that helps us build on failure and celebrate success

• Mutual respect - we believe the contributions of every team member are critical to our success, regardless of skills, experience or background

Project Description

The goal is to demonstrate the improvement of spacecraft serviceability on-orbit by developing a small-scale, proof-of-concept robotic assembly process. The solution will be based on use of a simple desktop robotic arm or high-fidelity simulation and consider the effects of the space environment (microgravity, vacuum, thermal, etc). The project will include design and development of a custom or modified-COTS end-effector, respective system components for the assembly process and integration into a hardware or simulated demonstration for validation.

The project will be finessed with the successful applicant prior to start based on their interests (e.g focus on design, Simulation or Hardware) and coordinated with present engineering needs. The project will support the development of an on-orbit assembly proof of testbed at the IOSM Yard Facility run by the Satellite Applications Catapult at Westcott Venture Park.

Find out more about SPIN and explore FAQs here.

Applicant Specification:

Depending on the specific direction of the project taken by the successful applicant the technical skills to be developed are:

• Satellite Systems Engineering

• Robotics. Electronics and Mechanical Engineering

• Software & simulation

• Prototyping

You should also be able to demonstrate the following human skills

• Problem solving & critical thinking

• Solution-orientated and self-motivated

• Innovation mindset

• Teamwork

• Business/commercial awareness

• Technical communications (presentations, meetings, reports/documentation)

• Time Management

• Resilience and ability to fail successfully

Your academic experience should include working towards higher level STEM qualification or equivalent level of prior professional or voluntary experience. We would also expect to see some evidence of:

• Experience with common CAD packages (e.g. Solidworks, Fusion360) or simulation tools (e.g. Matlab, Simulink) and/or

• Prototyping or other examples of hands-on engineering experience

This project would suit someone with entrepreneurial ambitions, creativity, desire to disrupt and passion for sustainability, with a demonstrable interest in the space industry.

Demonstrating one or more of the following attributes would also be desirable:

• Experience 3d printing, milling or CNC

• Experience with Robotics (simulation or Lab, particularly UR systems)

• Programming and configuration of microcontrollers (e.g Raspberry Pi, Arduino, or other industrial embedded platforms)

• Any other practical project demonstrating technical creativity and problem solving

• Sustainable Engineering skills

• Desire to change the world

Process details

Evaluation will be by interview in a one-hour video call. Applicants will be asked to prepare a short 10-minute presentation on a task or topic of their choice relating to the project description, which will be presented during the interview.

The successful applicant will be offered a 2-month fixed-term placement. The position is remote but may include some meetings on-site at Harwell and/or Westcott.

This job description set outs the skills and experience we believe are needed to be able to do this job but, research also tells us women are much more likely than men to take this list of requirements as absolute and self-select out of the process. If you think you can deliver this role then we want to hear from you, regardless of the boxes you didn’t tick.