Role Name: Pressure Vessel Development Lead

About Manastu

Manastu Space is a Space Safety and Logistics company focused on making space safe, sustainable, and accessible . We develop technologies to address critical challenges such as space debris mitigation and green propulsion , enabling safer satellite operations, and long-term sustainability of the space ecosystem.

Our work sits at the intersection of advanced engineering, applied research, and mission-critical systems , requiring deep technical capability and long-term thinking.

Website: https://www.manastuspace.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/manastu-space/

Email: [email protected]

Role Objective

Lead the design, analysis and qualification of the metallic propellant tanks for our hydrogen peroxide-based green monopropellant propulsion systems - from requirements to flight-qualified hardware .

The role owns tank development end to end: deriving requirements and design trades; designing to pressure-vessel codes with static, fatigue and dynamic analysis; designing for manufacture and welding; helping establish the weld procedures; qualifying the design to code; and ensuring conformance through manufacture - setting the pressure-vessel standards the company builds to.

Role Overview

We are seeking an experienced Pressure Vessel Development Lead to join our growing aerospace facility in Navi Mumbai , with robust expertise in metallic pressure-vessel design, analysis and qualification.

Manastu's propellant tanks are moving from development to flight-qualified production, and this is a foundational role : you will set the pressure-vessel standards and practices the company builds to, take tanks through qualification to launch-provider standards , and build the tank team . As its founding member, you will work hands-on across requirements, design, analysis and test.

You will work closely with propulsion, materials and processes, structures and thermal engineers - helping establish the weld procedures (WPS/PQR) for each weld configuration with Materials & Processes, and analysing the tank against the launch environments you are given. The role focuses on metallic propellant tanks.

Key Responsibilities

- Derive tank requirements - volume,



maximum expected operating pressure (MEOP, including decomposition-driven pressure rise), cycle life and leak rate - and run the design trades, choosing the alloy from the approved material list against those requirements.
- Design metallic propellant tanks to AIAA S-080/081 and ASME BPVC Section VIII; own proof, burst and safety factors and the tank safety case.
- Substantiate life - safe-life and leak-before-burst arguments, fatigue and crack-growth analysis.
- Design for manufacture and welding (DFM/DFW) - machined domes, bosses and tolerances; weld joint type, process (friction stir or fusion), location and a weld land sized for the heat-affected zone - and help establish the WPS/PQR for each weld configuration with Materials & Processes and the vendor; design O-ring glands to AS568; allocate the leak rate and verify it by helium leak testing.
- Design the tank around its diaphragm propellant management device (PMD) - expulsion efficiency, residuals, and slosh forces for attitude control.
- Develop qualification and acceptance test plans to the pressure code, with test levels and pass/fail criteria derived from the requirements and the code; witness proof, burst, pressure cycling, leak, vibration and thermal-vacuum testing, freezing every design parameter - weld joints included - through qualification to code.
- Ensure conformance through manufacture - in-process and first-article inspection, unit acceptance, nonconformance reports (NCRs) raised and closed through the material review board (MRB), and supplier evidence reviewed rigorously.
- Own the tank interface control documents (ICDs) with the feed system, structures and thermal, and report mass and centre of gravity against the system budget.
- Run the analysis yourself - static analysis to burst, dynamic analysis (modal, random vibration and shock) against the launch vehicle environment,



fatigue and crack growth - with CAD and drawings to ASME Y14.5.
- Design safety into every pressure test and procedure, with test hazards registered before testing begins.
- Build and lead the tank team, and release design rules, weld specifications and the leak-rate specification as company standards.

Experience & Background

- Degree in mechanical, aerospace, structural or materials engineering, with 6-12 years in aerospace pressure-vessel or propellant-tank design. A Master's in structures, fracture mechanics or pressure-vessel design is an advantage.
- Designed at least one metallic pressure vessel to AIAA S-080/081, ASME BPVC Section VIII or ECSS-E-ST-32 , from requirements through proof and burst testing .
- Hands-on, not delegated: CAD (SolidWorks/CATIA) with GD&T; to ASME Y14.5; static and dynamic FEA (Ansys/Abaqus) - non-linear to burst, modal and random vibration; fatigue and crack-growth analysis (NASGRO/AFGROW or equivalent); a safe-life or leak-before-burst substantiation authored or reviewed.
- Design for manufacture and welding ( DFM/DFW ) and sealing - joint type and location, helping establish WPS/PQR with vendors, O-ring glands to AS568 , leak-rate specification and helium leak testing.
- Developed and witnessed a qualification or acceptance test campaign to a pressure code (AIAA S-080/081 or ASME BPVC Section VIII), with pass/fail criteria derived from requirements, and ensured conformance through NCR and MRB .
- Led, mentored or built a team of engineers.
- Ideally: flight propulsion hardware, especially diaphragm or PMD tanks; friction stir welding of aluminium; slosh analysis; launch-provider safety reviews; green propellant or hydrogen peroxide systems.

Ideal Candidate Profile

- A hands-on pressure-vessel engineer who takes a vessel from code design and analysis through manufacture and qualification, runs their own analysis, works with welders and vendors, and backs every claim with a number.
- Challenges designs - their own included - stops a test when it isn't safe, and reports bad news early.
- Owns interfaces, influences across teams without formal authority, and builds a team that carries the work forward.

📌 Pressure Vessel Development Lead (Navi Mumbai)
🏢 Manastu Space
📍 Navi Mumbai