Key findings

1
523 of the 8,150 space roles open on 29 Oct 2026 (6.4%) were for someone starting out; 316 of them internships or co-ops.
Figure 1
2
Space internships posted a median $28.99 an hour ($60,300 as a full-time year).
Figure 1
3
The most starter roles were open at Rocket Lab (98), Blue Origin (77) and Astranis (53).
Figure 2
4
By kind of work, Manufacturing & Technicians had the most starter roles (85), then Mechanical, Structures & Thermal (77).
Figure 3
5
The season hired for most was Summer 2027, named by 154 open roles at 12 employers.
Figure 4

Figure 1

The kinds of starter roles open in space

How many space jobs are internships, apprenticeships or new graduate roles?

Kind of starter role	Open roles	Share of starter roles	Median posted pay a year	As an hourly rate	Employers
Internships and co-ops	316	60.4%	$60,300	$28.99	28
Apprenticeships and trainee roles	9	1.7%	$48,400	$23.27	3
New graduate and early-career roles	59	11.3%	$132,000	$63.46	5
Entry-level and junior roles	24	4.6%	$61,400	$29.52	9
First level of a ladder (Technician I, Engineer 1)	115	22.0%	$88,000	$42.31	14

Sample. 523 of the 8,150 roles open on 29 Oct 2026 are for someone starting out, by the title rule of the no-experience page (/space-jobs-no-experience).

A title counts once, at the first kind it names, in the order of the table. A title naming seniority (senior, staff, lead, manager) or a doctorate is never a starter role.

Pay is the board's median of distinct posted figures as a year's pay; the hourly rate is that figure over 2,080 hours.

Source. SpaceJobs.Now Research, Space Internships and Entry-Level Jobs: How Many Are Open, Where and What They Pay, read 29 Oct 2026.

Figure 2

Which space employers are hiring people starting out

Which space companies have the most internships and entry-level roles open?

Employer	Starter roles open	Share of its open roles	Internships and co-ops	Median posted pay a year
Rocket Lab	98	20.1%	69	$58,200
Blue Origin	77	5.3%	47	n/a
Astranis	53	28.8%	53	$60,300
SpaceX	53	2.3%	12	$83,200
Relativity Space	45	11.7%	0	$90,000
Varda Space Industries	28	23.5%	27	n/a
Firefly Aerospace	24	19.8%	11	n/a
Muon Space	18	13.0%	15	$83,200
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory	12	10.0%	6	$107,000
Axiom Space	11	9.2%	11	n/a
AST SpaceMobile	10	4.0%	1	n/a
Inversion Space	10	12.0%	7	$96,500
Ursa Major	10	8.5%	9	$62,400
True Anomaly	9	4.5%	0	$90,000
Voyager Technologies	9	5.5%	7	$55,600
K2 Space	8	3.8%	8	$72,800
The Exploration Company	8	7.1%	7	n/a
Stoke Space	6	8.1%	3	$58,200
Isar Aerospace	4	3.1%	4	n/a
Northwood Space	4	6.7%	2	$100,000
Vantor	4	3.1%	1	n/a
Apex	3	2.4%	3	$93,600
Boeing	3	2.2%	0	n/a
Kepler Communications	3	13.6%	3	n/a
Loft Orbital	3	4.9%	3	$62,400
Vast	3	1.7%	2	$72,800
Astroscale	2	4.7%	1	n/a
HawkEye 360	1	5.0%	1	n/a
ICEYE	1	0.6%	1	n/a
Northrop Grumman	1	1.2%	0	n/a
Starfish SpaceSmall sample	1	8.3%	1	n/a
Xona Space Systems	1	2.0%	1	n/a

Sample. 523 starter roles open on 29 Oct 2026 at 32 employers.

Rows with fewer than 16.5 open roles are marked as a small sample and not ranked: below that the average of the rows weighs more than a row's own open roles (the weight fitted on the rows' own counts).

Source. SpaceJobs.Now Research, Space Internships and Entry-Level Jobs: How Many Are Open, Where and What They Pay, read 29 Oct 2026.

Figure 3

Starter roles by kind of work

In which lines of space work is it easiest to start?

Kind of work	Starter roles open	Share of the kind's open roles	Median posted pay a year
Manufacturing & Technicians	85	5.9%	$58,800
Mechanical, Structures & Thermal	77	9.7%	$60,300
Systems, Integration & Test	59	7.6%	$65,200
Ground Software & IT	48	5.4%	$79,100
Avionics & Electrical	45	7.9%	$62,400
Programs & Business	42	3.6%	$52,000
Flight Software & GNC	37	9.8%	$83,200
Propulsion & Engines	34	14.8%	$58,200
Supply Chain & Facilities	33	4.2%	$52,000
Quality & Mission Assurance	18	3.8%	$60,300
RF, Communications & Payloads	12	4.7%	$60,300
Launch & Mission Operations	10	4.5%	$90,000
Science, Imaging & Earth Data	8	6.7%	n/a

Sample. 523 starter roles open on 29 Oct 2026.

Source. SpaceJobs.Now Research, Space Internships and Entry-Level Jobs: How Many Are Open, Where and What They Pay, read 29 Oct 2026.

Figure 4

The internship and co-op seasons space employers are hiring for

When should you apply for a space internship?

Season named in the title	Open roles	Employers	Median posted pay a year	As an hourly rate
Winter 2027	27	1	$60,300	$28.99
Spring 2027	63	7	$58,200	$27.98
Summer 2027	154	12	$60,300	$28.99
Fall 2027	1	1	n/a	n/a

Sample. Starter roles open on 29 Oct 2026 whose title names a season and a year ("Summer 2027 Propulsion Intern").

Only titles that name a season count; many internships name none.

Source. SpaceJobs.Now Research, Space Internships and Entry-Level Jobs: How Many Are Open, Where and What They Pay, read 29 Oct 2026.

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Method and definitions

Every open role on the space employers' public job boards this site reads, read by the title rule of the no-experience page. Every figure is computed by one database query over the window shown, the same query for the live report and for every edition. Each figure states its sample beneath it.

Starter role: A role whose title says it is for someone starting out: an internship or co-op, an apprenticeship or trainee role, a new graduate or early-career role, an entry-level or junior role, or the first level of a ladder ("Technician I"), with no seniority or doctorate in the title.
Season: A season and a year the title names ("Summer 2027").

What this data cannot tell you

The rule reads titles only: a role open to newcomers whose title says nothing of it is not counted.
Most internships ask that you are enrolled in a degree, and most entry-level engineering roles ask for the degree; starter means the title, not the absence of requirements.
Employers post internship seasons months apart, so the season table moves through the year.

How the job feeds are read and roles are classified: site methodology. How fresh, complete and consistent the data is, checked every day: data quality and coverage.

Editions

This report reads the live job boards every day. Each complete month is also published as an edition, frozen two days after the month ends, so a figure you cite from an edition never moves.

Live data (this page)Today's boards, read daily

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Free to quote, chart and republish under CC BY 4.0 with a link to this page. Live figures change daily: cite a monthly edition for numbers that will read the same later, or keep the access date.

Citation

SpaceJobs.Now (2026). Space Internships and Entry-Level Jobs: How Many Are Open, Where and What They Pay (live data, 2 Oct 2026 to 29 Oct 2026). https://spacejobs.now/research/space-internships-and-entry-level-jobs (accessed 30 Oct 2026)

BibTeX

@misc{aitrainingjobs_space_internships_and_entry_level_jobs_live,
  author = {{SpaceJobs.Now}},
  title = {Space Internships and Entry-Level Jobs: How Many Are Open, Where and What They Pay (live data, 2 Oct 2026 to 29 Oct 2026)},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://spacejobs.now/research/space-internships-and-entry-level-jobs}},
  note = {Accessed 30 Oct 2026},
}

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