Polymer Chemist
US$125,000 – US$200,000 / yr base salary
Posted 23 Jun 2026
Advertised as “Polymer Chemist - Space Solar”
BranchFactor Summary
The original posting with the fluff stripped out
- Management level
- Individual contributor
- Contract
- Full-time
| Base salary | US$125,000 – US$200,000 / yr |
|---|
Field of studyChemical Engineering, Chemistry, Materials Science, Polymer Chemistry (or related)
Study levelMaster's or higher
Field of studyBarrier Materials, Encapsulation, Polymer Chemistry
Study levelDoctorate
Position Details:
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Location: Los Angeles (Hawthorne), CA
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Employment Type: Full-time
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Department: Starlight Solar
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Travel: Occasional
The Mission
Starpath develops and manufactures the technologies that will enable humans to live on the Moon and Mars. Today, we are building robotic systems that locally produce the essential commodities a lunar civilization will require at extreme scale: water, power, and oxygen. Our ultimate goal is to build and operate a self-sustaining city on Mars.
Polymer Chemist – Space Solar
The Starlight team is focused on dramatically improving space solar power to support Starpath's core mission and the greater space economy. Starlight manufactures the lowest cost and highest performance space solar ever, which will power the majority of new satellites built on Earth and all of Starpath's equipment on the Moon and Mars.
As a Polymer Chemist on the Starlight team, you will own the polymer materials, encapsulation systems, and barrier chemistries that protect our perovskite solar cells from the space environment. You'll drive the formulation, qualification, and integration decisions that determine how well our arrays survive moisture, oxygen, thermal cycling, UV, and radiation across years on orbit — while staying compatible with the underlying perovskite chemistry.
Responsibilities:
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Develop, formulate, and qualify polymer encapsulants, edge seals, barrier films, and adhesives for perovskite solar hardware
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Engineer moisture and oxygen barrier systems with ultra-low water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) and oxygen transmission rate (OTR) to protect perovskite cells
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Develop low-temperature curing and lamination processes compatible with perovskite-cell processing constraints
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Drive root-cause investigations on bonding, outgassing, delamination, and ingress-driven degradation across manufacturing and qualification testing
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Characterize polymer materials and bonded joints using techniques such as FTIR, DSC, TGA, WVTR/OTR, and lap shear/peel testing
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Evaluate polymer and encapsulation performance under space environments — vacuum outgassing (ASTM E595), thermal cycling, UV, atomic oxygen, and ionizing radiation
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Translate bench chemistry into stable, high-yield production processes in partnership with cell, panel, and manufacturing engineering