Role directory
Every kind of work in the space industry.
The space industry is not one job, and the pay differs by the work you do. Pick the work that fits your background to see what it pays and who hires for it, or browse by employer instead.
- Propulsion & Engines
- Mechanical, Structures & Thermal
- Avionics & Electrical
- RF, Communications & Payloads
- Flight Software & GNC
- Ground Software & IT
- Systems, Integration & Test
- Manufacturing & Technicians
- Launch & Mission Operations
- Quality & Mission Assurance
- Science, Imaging & Earth Data
- Supply Chain & Facilities
- Programs & Business
By kind of work
13 kinds of space industry work.
Each links to a full breakdown of what the work involves, what it pays across the market, and every employer that hires for it, with its open roles right now.
Manufacturing & Technicians
1,446 open now24 employers hire for it
Build the hardware with your hands and run the lines that make it: assembly, integration and test technicians, machinists and CNC programmers, welders, composites and additive manufacturing, electrical and harness technicians, and the manufacturing engineers who design the process. Many of these roles are hourly and open to people without a degree.
Live median $85k/yr. Measured from 594 distinct posted rates, across 26 employers, each as a year's pay (an hourly rate × 2,080 hours). 851 of the 1,446 open roles here state no pay.
Programs & Business
1,093 open now14 employers hire for it
Run the company and its missions: program and project management, scheduling and program control, business development and sales of launches, satellites and data, finance and accounting, contracts, legal and export control, people and recruiting, and communications..
Live median $140k/yr. Measured from 580 distinct posted rates, across 34 employers, each as a year's pay (an hourly rate × 2,080 hours). 512 of the 1,093 open roles here state no pay.
Ground Software & IT
856 open now11 employers hire for it
Build the software on the ground: mission and ground-segment software, data platforms, web and backend engineering, cloud and DevOps, IT and cybersecurity, and the factory and business systems a space company runs on..
Live median $160k/yr. Measured from 531 distinct posted rates, across 32 employers, each as a year's pay (an hourly rate × 2,080 hours). 325 of the 856 open roles here state no pay.
Mechanical, Structures & Thermal
769 open now16 employers hire for it
Design and analyze the physical vehicle: primary structures and tanks, mechanisms and deployables, thermal control, materials and processes, loads and stress analysis, aerodynamics and reentry, and the ground support equipment that fuels and handles a vehicle on the pad..
Live median $132k/yr. Measured from 324 distinct posted rates, across 24 employers, each as a year's pay (an hourly rate × 2,080 hours). 445 of the 769 open roles here state no pay.
Supply Chain & Facilities
756 open now0 employers hire for it
Keep the factory and the launch site supplied and running: procurement and buying, supplier management, planning and inventory, logistics, shipping and receiving, warehouses, and the facilities, maintenance and site security of plants, test sites and launch pads..
Live median $110k/yr. Measured from 350 distinct posted rates, across 28 employers, each as a year's pay (an hourly rate × 2,080 hours). 406 of the 756 open roles here state no pay.
Systems, Integration & Test
715 open now26 employers hire for it
Tie the vehicle together and prove it works: systems engineering and architecture, requirements and verification, assembly, integration and test (AI&T), environmental testing in thermal vacuum and vibration, and test engineering for whole vehicles and their subsystems..
Live median $132k/yr. Measured from 354 distinct posted rates, across 29 employers, each as a year's pay (an hourly rate × 2,080 hours). 361 of the 715 open roles here state no pay.
Avionics & Electrical
562 open now30 employers hire for it
Build the electrical heart of a rocket or satellite: flight computers and avionics boxes, power systems and batteries, harnesses, circuit boards, FPGAs and ASICs, and the electronics that must survive launch loads, vacuum and radiation..
Live median $148k/yr. Measured from 275 distinct posted rates, across 25 employers, each as a year's pay (an hourly rate × 2,080 hours). 287 of the 562 open roles here state no pay.
Quality & Mission Assurance
469 open now3 employers hire for it
Make sure the hardware is right before it flies: quality engineering and inspection, mission and product assurance, reliability, nondestructive testing, supplier quality, and environment, health and safety on sites that handle propellants and high-energy systems..
Live median $113k/yr. Measured from 219 distinct posted rates, across 20 employers, each as a year's pay (an hourly rate × 2,080 hours). 250 of the 469 open roles here state no pay.
Flight Software & GNC
360 open now12 employers hire for it
Write the software that flies the vehicle and steer it: flight and embedded software, firmware, guidance, navigation and control, flight dynamics and orbit determination, and the autonomy that lets a spacecraft rendezvous, land or reenter on its own..
Live median $160k/yr. Measured from 173 distinct posted rates, across 22 employers, each as a year's pay (an hourly rate × 2,080 hours). 185 of the 360 open roles here state no pay.
RF, Communications & Payloads
237 open now10 employers hire for it
Make spacecraft talk and sense: RF and antenna design, phased arrays, signal processing and modems, optical and laser communication terminals, and the payloads a satellite carries, from broadband and direct-to-phone links to radar and imaging instruments..
Live median $160k/yr. Measured from 144 distinct posted rates, across 20 employers, each as a year's pay (an hourly rate × 2,080 hours). 93 of the 237 open roles here state no pay.
Propulsion & Engines
226 open now12 employers hire for it
Design, build and test the engines that move rockets and spacecraft: liquid rocket engines and their turbomachinery, combustion devices and injectors, solid rocket motors, in-space thrusters and electric propulsion, and the fluids and cryogenic systems that feed them. Much of it happens on a test stand, firing hardware and reading the data.
Live median $132k/yr. Measured from 129 distinct posted rates, across 14 employers, each as a year's pay (an hourly rate × 2,080 hours). 97 of the 226 open roles here state no pay.
Launch & Mission Operations
191 open now19 employers hire for it
Get vehicles off the ground and keep them flying: launch site and pad operations, launch control and range, recovery of reusable stages, mission operations and flight control, satellite and constellation operations, and ground station operations around the clock..
Live median $130k/yr. Measured from 94 distinct posted rates, across 21 employers, each as a year's pay (an hourly rate × 2,080 hours). 97 of the 191 open roles here state no pay.
Science, Imaging & Earth Data
97 open now9 employers hire for it
Turn what spacecraft see into knowledge: remote sensing and Earth observation, synthetic aperture radar and optical imaging, geospatial and intelligence analysis, data science and machine learning on satellite data, and the scientists who design missions and instruments..
Live median $163k/yr. Measured from 67 distinct posted rates, across 14 employers, each as a year's pay (an hourly rate × 2,080 hours). 29 of the 97 open roles here state no pay.
New to the space industry? Start with the learning guides to understand what each kind of work involves and how to begin, then come back to compare the pay.
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All 41 space employers the board tracks, with each one's pay, where it hires, and live open roles.
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Plain-language guides to the kinds of work in the space industry: what each is, who it suits, and how to begin.
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