Sr. Materials Engineer, Silicon Wafer Engineering (Starlink)
SpaceX · Bastrop, TX
About this role
<div class="content-intro"><p>SpaceX was founded under the belief that a future where humanity is out exploring the stars is fundamentally more exciting than one where we are not. Today SpaceX is actively developing the technologies to make this possible, with the ultimate goal of enabling human life on Mars.</p></div><p><strong>SR. MATERIALS ENGINEER, SILICON WAFER ENGINEERING (STARLINK)</strong></p> <p>Starlink, our revolutionary satellite constellation, will deliver low-latency broadband internet worldwide
We are committed to offering access to high-speed internet to customers and are looking for a Materials Engineer to utilize their knowledge, experience, and creativity to solve materials and processing challenges in silicon wafer production for Starlink solar cells. You will serve as the technical owner for wafer quality and production readiness, ensuring materials and processes meet space-grade performance and reliability requirements.</p> <p><strong>RESPONSIBILITIES:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Lead initial equipment selection and commissioning for wafer slicing, cleaning, degumming, and inspection, defining operational standards.</li> <li>Collaborate closely with solar engineering, reliability, production, and supply chain teams to translate mission requirements into wafer specifications.</li> <li>Own the initial development and qualification of wafer processes (ingot cropping, slicing, cleaning, degumming, surface conditioning), ensuring low-defect, high-reliability wafers.</li> <li>Qualify supplier materials (slurries, wires, adhesives, wet process chemicals) to ensure contamination-free wafers.</li> <li>Define environmental controls, metrology tools, and inspection strategies to maintain high-quality wafer standards.</li> <li>Correlate metrology data to device performance and reliability, establishing acceptance criteria.</li> <li>Drive defect reduction through root-cause analysis, corrective actions, and continuous process optimization.</li> <li>Support
Apply for this role on SpaceX’s official careers site.