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Quality & Mission Assurance

Check that every part is built right and every site is safe, from inspection and NDT to mission assurance and EHS.

Medium barrier to entryStart in a few months with shop experience, an ndt certificate or an engineering degree$100k–$216k/yrtypical pay

Ready for the numbers? Salaries in quality, the companies hiring for it and today's openings.

What it is

Quality and mission assurance teams make sure flight hardware matches its drawings and requirements, that problems are caught, recorded and fixed at the root, and that suppliers deliver parts that conform. Inspectors measure parts and check welds with nondestructive testing, quality and reliability engineers run the systems behind that, and environment, health and safety (EHS) teams keep people safe around propellants, high pressure and heavy lifts. In a field where one bad part can end a mission, this is how a company catches it first.

What you actually do

Inspect machined parts against drawings and GD&T using calipers, micrometers, gauges, CMMs or portable measuring arms.
Perform nondestructive testing (eddy current, penetrant, radiography, ultrasonic or visual) on welds, tubes and flight-critical parts, and document the results.
Write nonconformance reports, lead root cause analysis, and drive corrective and preventive actions.
Audit and qualify suppliers, set incoming inspection requirements, and review certificates of conformance and data packages.
Keep the quality management system (often built to AS9100) working through procedure and work instruction reviews and as-built verification.
On the safety side, run job hazard analyses, field inspections, incident investigations and safety training for teams working with pressure, propellants and lifts.

A day of this work, concretely

Dimensional inspection of machined parts

A batch of valve bodies arrives from the machine shop. You check critical dimensions, threads and surface finish against the drawing with micrometers, thread gauges and a profilometer, and look for burrs, scratches and foreign object debris. One part is out of tolerance, so you write a nonconformance report and work with the machinist to find the cause.

Eddy current inspection of a weld

You set up and calibrate the eddy current equipment, scan the weld and the tube around it, and judge each indication against the acceptance criteria on the drawing. You record the result in a report and walk the welding team through what you found so the next weld is better.

Qualifying a new supplier

Before a new machine shop builds flight parts, you visit it, audit its processes and quality system, and agree on inspection requirements and paperwork. You follow its first qualification build, review its data package, and lead root cause and corrective action with it if parts arrive wrong.

Is it right for you?

Inspectors and NDT technicians often come from machining, welding, the military or other manufacturing, and many of those roles ask for a high school diploma plus experience and certifications rather than a degree. Quality, reliability and supplier quality engineers usually hold an engineering or other STEM degree, and EHS specialists often have a degree in occupational safety or environmental science. People thrive here if they are detail-minded, willing to hold a schedule when the hardware is not right, and good at explaining why.

You will likely enjoy it if

You notice small details other people miss and like measuring things precisely.
You are comfortable telling a team that a part fails, and can show why with data.
You respect standards and procedures and want to understand the reason behind each one.
You care about people getting home safe as much as about the hardware.

What you need

For inspectors and NDT technicians: a high school diploma or GED, hands-on experience, and method certifications such as NDT Level II under ASNT SNT-TC-1A or NAS 410
For quality and reliability engineers: a bachelor's degree in engineering or another STEM field
For EHS roles: a degree in occupational health and safety, environmental science or a related field, plus working knowledge of OSHA regulations
US citizenship or permanent residency for most roles, because of ITAR export rules

Skills that help

GD&T and ASME Y14.5Precision metrology and CMMNDT methods (ET, PT, RT)Nonconformance and root causeAS9100 quality systemsOSHA and hazard analysis

How to get started

1Choose a lane: inspection and NDT (hands-on and certificate-based), quality or reliability engineering (degree-based), or EHS (a safety degree and OSHA knowledge).
2For inspection, learn to read drawings and GD&T and to use calipers, micrometers and gauges; machining or welding experience makes you a stronger inspector.
3For NDT, get trained and certified in one method such as penetrant, eddy current or radiography, then add methods; some employers pay to take an experienced Level I to Level II.
4Once you have two years of related experience, consider ASQ's Certified Quality Inspector, or the AWS Certified Welding Inspector credential if you come from welding.
5For quality engineering, learn the tools postings name (root cause methods such as 8D, FMEA, SPC and the AS9100 standard) and get internship or factory floor experience.
6For EHS, take the OSHA Outreach 30-hour course if your employer does not provide it, and work toward credentials such as the Certified Safety Professional over time.

Common misconceptions

Myth: Quality and safety just slow everyone down.

Reality: Space company postings describe quality and EHS as part of moving fast safely: building inspections and controls into the process early so problems are caught on the ground, not on the pad or in orbit.

Myth: An OSHA 10 or 30 card is a safety certification.

Reality: OSHA itself says none of its Outreach Training courses is a certification; the cards show you completed awareness training. They are still a useful start, and some employers provide the 30-hour course after you are hired.

Myth: Inspection is an entry-level job you quickly outgrow.

Reality: Senior inspectors and NDT Level II and Level III specialists sign off flight-critical hardware, train junior technicians and help write the inspection procedures everyone else follows.

What it pays

Quality work typically pays $100k–$216k/yr today, with a live median of $130k/yr across the 349 open roles that state their pay.

See quality pay, employers & live roles Compare pay across all work →

What our research measures about quality work

Read from the open postings on 2026-10-29 by our space industry research, rebuilt every day. Every figure opens the row of the report it comes from.

Who is hiring471 open roles (5.8% of the space roles we read) at 30 employers, 111 of them posted in the last 30 days.
Where the jobs are1.7% of these roles are remote; the rest are on-site or hybrid.
Who can apply72.7% of the postings are open only to US persons or US citizens, and 12.2% name a security clearance.
Skills and toolsThe skills its postings name most: Lean or Six Sigma (23%), GD&T (ASME Y14.5) (20%) and Excel (20%).
Degrees and experience19.2% of the postings take a high school diploma or an associate's degree, 18.3% name a master's or PhD, and they ask for a median of 3 years of experience at the least.
Pay transparency45.9% of the postings state their pay, at a median $113,000 a year.
Internships and entry level18 open roles are for someone starting out (3.8% of its open roles).
Shifts, weekends and travel43.9% of the postings ask for weekend work, 42.6% for overtime or extended hours, and 8.1% name an evening, night or rotating shift.
What applications askThe application forms for this work ask your citizenship or U.S. person status (90.9% of them), about a security clearance (56.2% of them), your GPA (33.0% of them), SAT, ACT or GRE scores (32.7% of them), your salary expectations (27.7% of them) and whether you have worked or interviewed at the company before (55.4% of them).

Frequently asked questions

How do I become an NDT inspector in aerospace?

NDT certification in aerospace is commonly employer-based: you qualify in one method at a time, such as eddy current, penetrant or radiography, and are certified Level I, then Level II, under your employer's written practice, which follows a standard such as ASNT's SNT-TC-1A or NAS 410. ASNT describes employer-based certification on its site. Stoke Space, for example, offered in an October 2026 eddy current posting to pay for the training and testing to bring an experienced Level I to Level II. The guide on how to become an aerospace technician covers the wider technician path.

What does a quality engineer do at a space company?

A quality engineer owns how hardware is checked and how problems are handled: reviewing work instructions, verifying builds, managing nonconformances, leading root cause and corrective action, and keeping the quality management system running, often to AS9100, the aerospace quality standard. Some specialize in suppliers and travel to audit and qualify vendors, while others work alongside test and launch teams. Most postings ask for an engineering or STEM bachelor's degree. You can browse openings on the quality and mission assurance roles page.

Is the ASQ Certified Quality Inspector certification worth getting?

It can help if you are moving into inspection from another trade, because it shows you know metrology, GD&T, SPC and quality tools. ASQ asks for two years of on-the-job experience in its body of knowledge, or equivalent experience through an apprenticeship, and the certification does not need renewing. Space inspector postings tend to ask for drawing reading, GD&T and hands-on inspection experience by name rather than for the CQI, so treat it as a plus, not a ticket in.

What do EHS jobs at rocket companies involve?

EHS (environment, health and safety) teams investigate incidents, run job hazard analyses and field inspections, deliver safety training and handle environmental rules such as hazardous waste, on sites with high pressure systems, propellants, cranes and lifts. Postings typically ask for a degree in occupational safety or environmental science and working knowledge of OSHA regulations. OSHA's 10-hour and 30-hour Outreach cards are awareness training, not certifications. The board lists 680 open quality and safety roles today.