Q&A: Insights from a graduate spacecraft propulsion engineer

Who are you, what is your job role and what do you do?

My name’s Jimara and I’m currently a Graduate Spacecraft Propulsion Engineer at Airbus. Being part of the propulsion team means that I get to work on lots of exciting space projects, including some science missions, which are always really interesting to learn about. A lot of what we do in propulsion includes: propellant budget (how much propellant we need) calculations; being the authority - or go-to person - for technical components; coming up with creative ideas for problems; procedure writing, and considering what the future of propulsion might look like.

As a graduate, I rotate around different departments and I am currently working in the propulsion test department, which means I get to be involved with the practical part of things as well.

Can you tell us about any current projects that you’re working on? 

At the moment, a lot of my time at work is spent on testing and writing up the test report for a satellite propulsion system in one of our clean rooms. This involves setting up our ground-support equipment (GSE), connecting it up to the spacecraft, and performing cleanliness checks, amongst other things. The report I have been writing up is for a different set of tests that were carried out by people in my team before I started my rotation, which was a great way to introduce myself to the way procedures are carried out and how propulsion test reports should be written.