Data, imagery and machine learning
Space Jobs for Data Scientists
, SpaceJobs.Now lists 176 open roles for data scientists and machine learning engineers on 24 space industry employers, including Muon Space, Hubble Network and Inversion Space; typical pay across them is $133k to $251k a year (median $160k), topped by $350k a year advertised at SpaceX.
AI Software Engineer II (opens the job details)
Relativity Space · Software & IT · Long Beach, California, United States· 2mo agoDetails
$130,000/yrAI Software Engineer I (opens the job details)
Relativity Space · Software & IT · Long Beach, California, United States· 2mo agoDetails
$115,000/yr
Measured from 90 distinct posted rates, across 16 employers, each as a year's pay (an hourly rate × 2,080 hours). 85 of the 176 listings open here post no pay at all.
Space companies hire data scientists and machine learning engineers to turn imagery, telemetry and production data into products and decisions. Each listing here is re-verified on the employer's own job board once an hour.
Live roles for data scientists and machine learning engineers
Updated 30 Oct 2026, 06:01 UTCListed here: Relativity Space roles. See every employer
Machine learning and AI
2 openModels for imagery, autonomy, operations and manufacturing.
AI Software Engineer II (opens the job details)
Relativity Space · Software & IT · Long Beach, California, United States· 2mo agoDetails
$130,000/yrAI Software Engineer I (opens the job details)
Relativity Space · Software & IT · Long Beach, California, United States· 2mo agoDetails
$115,000/yr
Before you apply
Space hardware is built, tested and flown in person, so many roles name a factory, a test site, a launch site or a control room, and each listing states its location. US roles that touch export-controlled technology (ITAR or EAR) can ask that you be a U.S. person, and some ask for a security clearance. A real employer never charges you to apply, never interviews you only by chat app and never asks you to buy equipment.
Pay by specialty
Every specialty gets its typical band from its own open roles, computed by the same method as the rest of the site (the 25th percentile of what roles pay (the middle of each posted range, as a year's pay: an hourly rate counts at 2,080 hours, 40 a week for 52 weeks) to the 90th-percentile posted top). A specialty is listed once three or more distinct rates have been posted.
What the roles ask for
Drawn from the requirement lines of 124 out of 176 open roles for data scientists and machine learning engineers, the same lines each role's pop-up quotes from its posting. Each role is counted once, at the lowest degree it will accept.
- Name years of experience103
- Name a security clearance38
- Require programming (Python, C++, MATLAB and similar)36
- Name u.S. person status (ITAR or EAR)12
- Set a residency or work-authorization condition9
- Ask for a certification2
Where a posting states years of experience, the median ask is 5 years.
Who hires data scientists and machine learning engineers in the space industry
Sorted by the expected value of an application (acceptance odds times posted pay). A referral agreement, if an employer has one, can raise it in this order but never changes the salary it offers.
Where these roles are posted
The US states with the most open roles for data scientists and machine learning engineers, and the roles posted for a single country. A place name leads to its own page, and a country's count lists the matching roles.
In the US, by state
Space industry jobs by US state
The public record, in every industry: 275,600 data scientists work in the US (2025), projected to grow 35% by 2035, at a median $120k/yr (BLS, May 2025). Each state's page gives its own.
Roles posted for one country
What our research measures about science & data 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 hiring119 open roles (1.5% of the space roles we read) at 23 employers, 41 of them posted in the last 30 days.
- Where the jobs are16.0% of these roles are remote; the rest are on-site or hybrid.
- Who can apply68.1% of the postings are open only to US persons or US citizens, and 37.2% name a security clearance.
- Skills and toolsThe skills its postings name most: Python (71%), C or C++ (27%) and SQL (18%).
- Degrees and experience1.8% of the postings take a high school diploma or an associate's degree, 64.6% name a master's or PhD, and they ask for a median of 3 years of experience at the least.
- Pay transparency64.7% of the postings state their pay, at a median $153,000 a year.
- Internships and entry level8 open roles are for someone starting out (6.7% of its open roles).
- Shifts, weekends and travel4.4% of the postings ask for weekend work, 4.4% for overtime or extended hours.
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Frequently asked questions
How much do data scientists and machine learning engineers earn in the space industry?
Going by the 90 distinct salaries currently posted for roles for data scientists and machine learning engineers (each put on a full-time year), the typical range is $133k–$251k/yr and the median is $160k/yr. The top posted figure is $350k/yr, at SpaceX. 85 of the 176 open roles for data scientists and machine learning engineers state no pay, so check each listing.
What do data roles ask for?
Usually a degree in a quantitative field and experience with the tools the role names; imagery and remote sensing roles often ask for a graduate degree in the field. Every posting spells out its exact requirements and work site, so read each one. Of the 124 open roles for data scientists and machine learning engineers whose requirements we read, 3 ask for a PhD, 5 a master's, 85 at least a bachelor's and 31 name no degree.
What does a data scientist or machine learning engineer do at a space company?
A data scientist at a space company works on the data a space business produces: Earth observation imagery and radar, spacecraft telemetry, test and production data, building the models, pipelines and analysis that turn it into products and decisions.
How do space companies hire data scientists and machine learning engineers?
Each employer runs its own hiring, and each listing says what it asks for: the degree or the hands-on experience, the location, and for export-controlled work in the US, often U.S. person status.
Are these jobs real?
Every role here is read from a space employer's own careers page or job board (Muon Space, Hubble Network, Inversion Space and K2 Space among them), and each employer's page here covers who they are and how they hire. A real employer never charges you to apply, never asks you to buy equipment and never interviews you only by chat app.
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Science, Imaging & Earth Data
Every open science & data role across space employers, with live pay.