Mission Assurance Build Reliability Internship Summer 2026

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

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

Mission Assurance will be working to ensure Varda is ready to successfully launch and reenter our Winnebago capsule by determining overall program readiness (design build and operational readiness) while meeting all the regulatory requirements necessary to safely and repeatedly execute our mission. The candidate will help author and present on program wide vehicle and regulatory readiness.

Internships at Varda are optimal for students looking to grow technically and professionally while working on impactful projects critical to the companys 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. Were dedicated to providing an experience that will let your decisions and contributions help drive Vardas success.

Build Reliability:
Build reliability interns will support program critical efforts to scale production rate of reliable space hardware. This will include driving investigation and resolution of hardware build issues and proactively tracking build trends to identify and execute upon quality or rate pain points to support production scaling.

Systems Engineering / Mission Assurance:
Interns will lead functional analysis efforts for the vehicle ensuring that all subsystems align with overall mission objectives. They will also take ownership of requirements verification helping to confirm that the vehicle design and performance meet all defined technical and regulatory criteria.

Responsibilities

Build Reliability
Ideal for candidates with hands-on experience and a passion for building hardware.
Preferred Experience:

• Built or assembled physical hardware (personal academic or professional projects)

• Experience on project teams (e.g. Rocketry SAE CubeSat)

• Familiarity with manufacturing processes or rapid prototyping

OR

Systems Engineering / Mission Assurance

Ideal for candidates interested in systems-level thinking and mission safety.
Preferred Experience:

• Hazard analysis or fault tree analysis

• Requirements definition and traceability

• System-level test planning and verification

• Hands-on work on project teams involving hardware development

Basic Qualifications

• Enrolled as a full-time student at a college or university

• Relevant coursework in:

  • Build Reliability

  • Integration & Test (I&T) on vehicles

• Experience building something hands-on (personal academic or professional)

• Experience with hardware systems

OR

• Background in Systems Engineering or Mission Assurance

• Experience with:

  • Hazard analysis

  • Requirements capturing

  • Systems test and verification

Preferred Skills And Experience

• Previous internship or co-op experience
• Previous experience on technical project teams ( club formula SAE etc.)

• 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 individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3) (i.e. individual admitted to the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum in the U.S.)

  Learn more about the ITAR here.

Benefits