Skip to content

Research report · Live data

Who Can Apply to Space Jobs: US Citizenship, Export Control and Security Clearances

On 29 Oct 2026, 79.4% of 8,033 open space industry roles were limited by their own postings to US persons or citizens, and 18.2% named a security clearance.

The roles behind it:Space jobs for non-US citizens Space jobs that need a clearance

Read on
29 Oct 2026
Every board, read today
Computed
30 Oct 2026, 04:45 UTC
Read again every day
Source
The full text of every open posting this site stores from the employers' public job boards, read for the citizenship, export-control and clearance terms it states. Boards read as listings only carry no text and are counted apart.
Method
Version 1. Definitions
CC BY 4.0, how to cite

Every figure on this page as CSV and JSON, sent to your work email.

of roles open only to US persons or citizens
79%
require US citizenship outright
39%
roles name a security clearance
1,461
open roles read
8,033

Key findings

  1. 1

    79.4% of the 8,033 space roles read on 29 Oct 2026 were open only to US persons or US citizens: 38.8% required citizenship outright and 40.7% cited export control.

    Figure 1
  2. 2

    Most space postings naming a security clearance are in California (707, 23.5% of the 3,014 read there) and Colorado (318, 59.7%).

    Figure 3
  3. 3

    23 employers limited every role read to US persons or citizens (SpaceX, Rocket Lab, K2 Space, True Anomaly and Astranis and 18 more). The fewest limits were stated by HawkEye 360 (0%), Isar Aerospace (0.8%) and ICEYE (1.7%).

    Figure 1
  4. 4

    By kind of work, Avionics & Electrical roles were the most often limited (85.9%) and Propulsion & Engines roles the least (66.5%).

    Figure 2
  5. 5

    1,461 roles (18.2%) named a security clearance; of those naming a level, Top Secret/SCI came first (412 roles), and 557 asked for a clearance without naming its level.

    Figure 4
  6. 6

    Working remotely did not lift the limit: 60.9% of the 448 remote roles were still open only to US persons or citizens.

    Figure 5

Figure 1

Who may apply, employer by employer

Which space employers open their roles only to US citizens or US persons, and which name a security clearance?

EmployerLimited to US persons or citizensName a security clearanceOpen roles read
SpaceX
100.0%
6.9%2,258
Rocket Lab
100.0%
27.7%487
K2 Space
100.0%
12.7%213
True Anomaly
100.0%
53.5%200
Astranis
100.0%
7.6%184
Muon Space
100.0%
28.3%138
Apex
100.0%
12.7%126
Firefly Aerospace
100.0%
6.6%121
Varda Space Industries
100.0%
10.1%119
Inversion Space
100.0%
91.6%83
Stoke Space
100.0%
1.4%74
Boeing
100.0%
100.0%64
Northwood Space
100.0%
15.0%60
Northrop Grumman
100.0%
86.4%59
Xona Space Systems
100.0%
100.0%51
Spire Global
100.0%
9.4%32
Terran Orbital
100.0%
100.0%29
Hubble Network
100.0%
0.0%16
Turion Space
100.0%
92.3%13
Starfish Space
100.0%
0.0%12
Momentus
100.0%
77.8%9
RTX
100.0%
100.0%7
Albedo
100.0%
20.0%5
Blue Origin
98.8%
7.4%1,427
Voyager Technologies
96.3%
41.5%164
BlackSky
94.6%
18.9%37
Outpost
92.9%
21.4%14
Vantor
89.3%
68.7%131
Quindar
88.2%
70.6%17
Axiom Space
77.5%
0.0%120
Astroscale
69.8%
7.0%43
Epsilon3
66.7%
100.0%3
Planet
53.0%
20.0%100
Loft Federal
35.7%
78.6%14
Slingshot Aerospace
18.2%
81.8%11
Ursa Major
15.4%
100.0%117
AST SpaceMobile
11.5%
4.0%253
Kepler Communications
9.1%
9.1%22
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
8.3%
17.5%120
Dawn Aerospace
8.3%
8.3%24
The Exploration Company
5.3%
0.0%113
Loft Orbital
5.0%
0.0%60
Vast
2.9%
5.2%174
Relativity Space
2.1%
1.3%384
ICEYE
1.7%
11.5%174
Isar Aerospace
0.8%
90.1%131
HawkEye 360
0.0%
10.0%20

Sample. 8,033 roles open on 29 Oct 2026 whose full posting text this site stores (98.6% of the 8,150 open roles; 117 are on boards read as listings only, with no text to read).

"US citizens only": the posting requires US citizenship. "Export-controlled": it says the work falls under US export control (ITAR, EAR, "US person"), which limits it to US persons: citizens, lawful permanent residents, refugees and asylees. A posting that states both counts as citizens only.

"Name a security clearance": the posting names a clearance it requires or prefers, or one the hire must be able to obtain.

"Exclude designated countries' citizens": the posting turns away citizens of, or people born in, countries a rule designates (NASA's, as JPL states it) unless they are US citizens or permanent residents. It is no US-person limit: everyone else may apply.

No row with any roles is a small sample: the rows differ so much that each reads on its own from its first.

Source. SpaceJobs.Now Research, Who Can Apply to Space Jobs: US Citizenship, Export Control and Security Clearances, read 29 Oct 2026.

Figure 2

Who may apply in each kind of space work

Is software, test or manufacturing work more often limited to US persons?

Kind of workLimited to US persons or citizensName a security clearanceOpen roles read
Avionics & Electrical
85.9%
12.4%555
Supply Chain & Facilities
85.5%
11.7%780
RF, Communications & Payloads
84.7%
21.1%242
OtherSmall sample
83.6%
23.0%61
Ground Software & IT
83.4%
28.5%884
Flight Software & GNC
82.9%
29.8%369
Mechanical, Structures & Thermal
78.6%
13.7%782
Manufacturing & Technicians
78.2%
7.1%1,431
Systems, Integration & Test
78.2%
23.8%756
Launch & Mission Operations
78.1%
29.7%219
Programs & Business
76.2%
23.8%1,145
Quality & Mission Assurance
72.7%
12.2%469
Science, Imaging & Earth Data
68.1%
37.2%113
Propulsion & Engines
66.5%
21.6%227

Sample. 8,033 roles open on 29 Oct 2026 whose full posting text this site stores (98.6% of the 8,150 open roles; 117 are on boards read as listings only, with no text to read).

Rows with fewer than 64.9 roles are marked as a small sample and not ranked: below that the average of the rows weighs more than a row's own roles (the weight fitted on the rows' own counts).

Source. SpaceJobs.Now Research, Who Can Apply to Space Jobs: US Citizenship, Export Control and Security Clearances, read 29 Oct 2026.

Figure 3

Who may apply, US state by state

Where in the US is the space work that needs a security clearance or US citizenship?

StateLimited to US persons or citizensName a security clearanceOpen roles read
California
79.6%
23.5%3,014
Texas
87.7%
1.3%1,255
Washington
99.9%
2.9%873
Colorado
74.7%
59.7%533
Florida
86.4%
4.3%447
Virginia
82.2%
57.3%157
Alabama
100.0%
17.4%115
Maryland
65.2%
13.0%92
District of Columbia
93.0%
52.1%71
Arizona
100.0%
78.4%37
Mississippi
45.9%
0.0%37
Tennessee
100.0%
11.1%36
Nevada
92.6%
85.2%27
New Mexico
100.0%
0.0%21
Pennsylvania
100.0%
9.5%21
New York
100.0%
0.0%16
Missouri
100.0%
0.0%11
Louisiana
100.0%
14.3%7
Connecticut
100.0%
16.7%6
Illinois
100.0%
100.0%5
Ohio
33.3%
66.7%3
HawaiiSmall sample
100.0%
100.0%1
MichiganSmall sample
100.0%
0.0%1

Sample. 8,033 roles open on 29 Oct 2026 whose full posting text this site stores (98.6% of the 8,150 open roles; 117 are on boards read as listings only, with no text to read). A posting naming sites in several states counts in each.

The state is the one the posting's location names, by the same reading as the research on where space jobs are; a posting naming no state is in no row.

Rows with fewer than 2 roles are marked as a small sample and not ranked: below that the average of the rows weighs more than a row's own roles (the weight fitted on the rows' own counts).

Source. SpaceJobs.Now Research, Who Can Apply to Space Jobs: US Citizenship, Export Control and Security Clearances, read 29 Oct 2026.

Figure 4

The clearance levels postings name

When a space posting asks for a clearance, which level is it?

Highest level namedOpen rolesShare of roles naming a clearance
Top Secret/SCI412
28.2%
Top Secret372
25.5%
Secret120
8.2%
Public Trust0
0.0%
A clearance, level not named557
38.1%

Sample. 1,461 of the 8,033 roles read on 29 Oct 2026 name a security clearance.

A posting is counted once, at the highest level it names. Top Secret/SCI adds access to Sensitive Compartmented Information to a Top Secret clearance.

Source. SpaceJobs.Now Research, Who Can Apply to Space Jobs: US Citizenship, Export Control and Security Clearances, read 29 Oct 2026.

Figure 5

Remote roles and who may take them

Does a remote space job open the role to people outside the United States?

Where the work is doneLimited to US persons or citizensName a security clearanceOpen roles read
On-site or hybrid
80.5%
18.0%7,585
Remote
60.9%
20.5%448

Sample. 8,033 roles open on 29 Oct 2026 whose full posting text this site stores (98.6% of the 8,150 open roles; 117 are on boards read as listings only, with no text to read).

Remote is the posting's own flag. A remote role can still be limited to US persons: export control follows the person and the data, not the desk.

Source. SpaceJobs.Now Research, Who Can Apply to Space Jobs: US Citizenship, Export Control and Security Clearances, read 29 Oct 2026.

For space companies, investors and researchers

Buy the data behind this report

The figures above are a summary. Behind them are records we collect ourselves, every day:

  • roles tracked, each with its history

    Every role on the job boards we read every hour: its pay and place, and the first and last day it was open.

  • apply clicks, counted

    Which roles people actually apply to, by field, pay and kind of work. It happens on this site, so nobody else can count it.

What you can buy

  • The records

    The rows behind any figure, with their history, not only the totals.

  • A regular feed

    The same figures every week or month, as files.

  • A custom cut or benchmark

    Your countries, languages or fields, or your own company against the market.

Hiring at a space company and need the people behind these roles? (you hire them yourself).

Investing in space companies? Hiring radar is these records role by role, every day, as files.

Method and definitions

The full text of every open posting this site stores from the employers' public job boards, read for the citizenship, export-control and clearance terms it states. Boards read as listings only carry no text and are counted apart. 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.

US citizens only
The posting requires US citizenship ("must be a U.S. citizen", "U.S. citizenship is required").
Export-controlled
The posting says the work falls under US export control (ITAR, EAR, "U.S. person", export-controlled information), which limits it to US persons: citizens, lawful permanent residents, refugees and asylees. A posting that also requires citizenship counts as citizens only.
Limited to US persons or citizens
Either of the two above.
Names a security clearance
The posting names a clearance it requires or prefers, or one the hire must be able to obtain, counted at the highest level it names (Top Secret/SCI, Top Secret, Secret, Public Trust, or a clearance of no named level).

What this data cannot tell you

  • A posting that states nothing is not stated, not open to everyone: an employer can screen on citizenship without writing it down.
  • Postings are read as written. A clause copied onto every posting of an employer counts on every posting, whether or not the particular work is controlled.
  • Boards this site reads as listings only (no posting text) are outside every figure; the sample line says how many open roles that leaves out.
  • Export-control and clearance rules are set by law and by each program; this report counts what postings say, not what the law requires for a given role.

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

Cite and reuse

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). Who Can Apply to Space Jobs: US Citizenship, Export Control and Security Clearances (live data, 2 Oct 2026 to 29 Oct 2026). https://spacejobs.now/research/space-jobs-us-citizenship-and-clearance (accessed 30 Oct 2026)

BibTeX

@misc{spacejobsnow_space_jobs_us_citizenship_and_clearance_live,
  author = {{SpaceJobs.Now}},
  title = {Who Can Apply to Space Jobs: US Citizenship, Export Control and Security Clearances (live data, 2 Oct 2026 to 29 Oct 2026)},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://spacejobs.now/research/space-jobs-us-citizenship-and-clearance}},
  note = {Accessed 30 Oct 2026},
}
Data: every figure as CSV (one line per value) and JSON, sent to your work email.Pay and open-roles data

More research

All 9 research reports