Data, imagery and machine learning
Space Jobs for Data Scientists
, SpaceJobs.Now lists 366 open roles for data scientists and machine learning engineers on 57 space industry employers, including Muon Space, Array Labs and Anduril; typical pay across them is $134k to $270k a year (median $163k), topped by $424k a year advertised at Lockheed Martin.
Senior Software Engineer I - Data Engineering (opens the job details)
Rocket Lab · Software & IT · Long Beach, CA· 3mo agoDetails
$132,000–$160,000/yrPrincipal Machine Learning Engineer (EO/IR Image Analysis) (opens the job details)
Rocket Lab · Science & Data · Long Beach, CA· 2w agoDetails
$153,000–$204,000/yrPrincipal Machine Learning Engineer (EO/IR Image Analysis) (opens the job details)
Rocket Lab · Science & Data · Tucson, AZ, United States· 2w agoDetails
Measured from 187 distinct posted rates, across 33 employers, each as a year's pay (an hourly rate × 2,080 hours). 158 of the 366 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 31 Oct 2026, 20:02 UTCListed here: Rocket Lab roles. See every employer
Machine learning and AI
4 openModels for imagery, autonomy, operations and manufacturing.
Principal Machine Learning Engineer (EO/IR Image Analysis) (opens the job details)
Rocket Lab · Science & Data · Long Beach, CA· 2w agoDetails
$153,000–$204,000/yrPrincipal Machine Learning Engineer (EO/IR Image Analysis) (opens the job details)
Rocket Lab · Science & Data · Tucson, AZ, United States· 2w agoDetails
Senior Machine Learning Engineer II (EO/IR Image Analysis) (opens the job details)
Rocket Lab · Science & Data · Tucson, AZ, United States· 2w agoDetails
Senior Machine Learning Engineer II (EO/IR Image Analysis) (opens the job details)
Rocket Lab · Science & Data · Long Beach, CA· 2w agoDetails
$153,000–$204,000/yr
Data engineering
1 openThe pipelines and platforms that move telemetry, imagery and business data.
Senior Software Engineer I - Data Engineering (opens the job details)
Rocket Lab · Software & IT · Long Beach, CA· 3mo agoDetails
$132,000–$160,000/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 229 out of 366 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 experience150
- Name a security clearance73
- Require programming (Python, C++, MATLAB and similar)67
- Name u.S. person status (ITAR or EAR)16
- Set a residency or work-authorization condition12
- Ask for a certification2
- Ask for a professional license1
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.
Data Scientist or Machine Learning Engineer salary by employer
What each employer's own postings pay data scientists and machine learning engineers, by level and by site, with every role and its posted pay.
- SpaceX Data Scientist or Machine Learning Engineer salarymedian $163k/yr, 96 open roles
- Vantor Data Scientist or Machine Learning Engineer salarymedian $145k/yr, 22 open roles
- Lockheed Martin Data Scientist or Machine Learning Engineer salarymedian $130k/yr, 19 open roles
- Blue Origin Data Scientist or Machine Learning Engineer salarymedian $198k/yr, 15 open roles
- Amazon Leo Data Scientist or Machine Learning Engineer salarymedian $169k/yr, 13 open roles
- True Anomaly Data Scientist or Machine Learning Engineer salarymedian $198k/yr, 11 open roles
How each employer checks you
For every employer currently hiring data scientists and machine learning engineers: its process as its own hiring guide describes it, each line with its source. The complete steps sit on that employer's page. 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.
- Assessment
- Amazon's interview loop. How to apply
- Interview
- Interview
- Assessment
- No general test published. How to apply
- Interview
- None published
- Assessment
- Booz Allen's technical assessment and interviews. How to apply
- Interview
- Interview
- Assessment
- Thales interviews. How to apply
- Interview
- Interview
- Assessment
- Airbus interviews and role tests. How to apply
- Interview
- Interview
- Assessment
- ESA's pre-screening and panel interview. How to apply
- Interview
- Interview
- Credentials
- You complete a basic medical screening for the ESA Medical Officer and a basic background screening run by an external party; in a second stage ESA contacts your referees and verifies your diploma. Source
- Assessment
- Lockheed Martin's interviews. How to apply
- Interview
- Interview
- Assessment
- The recruiter screening and team interviews. How to apply
- Interview
- Interview
- Assessment
- No general test published. How to apply
- Interview
- None published
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.
Students and recent graduates: 31 open space internships for data scientists and machine learning engineers.
In the US, by state
Space industry jobs by US state
In the US, by metro area
- The Los Angeles area70
- The Washington, DC area54
- The Denver area35
- The Austin area32
- The San Jose area25
- The Philadelphia area10
Space industry jobs by metro area
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). Open space roles for data scientists and machine learning engineers post a median $163k/yr, 35.6% above it (pay research). Each state's page gives its own.
What our research measures about science & data work
Read from the open postings on 2026-10-30 by our space industry research, rebuilt every day. Every figure opens the row of the report it comes from.
- Who is hiring315 open roles (2.0% of the space roles we read) at 53 employers, 135 of them posted in the last 30 days.
- Where the jobs are6.0% of these roles are remote; the rest are on-site or hybrid.
- Who can apply48.9% of the postings are open only to US persons or US citizens, and 56.1% name a security clearance.
- Skills and toolsThe skills its postings name most: Python (62%), MATLAB (32%) and C or C++ (27%).
- Degrees and experience1.2% of the postings take a high school diploma or an associate's degree, 56.4% name a master's or PhD, and they ask for a median of 4 years of experience at the least.
- Pay transparency53.3% of the postings state their pay, at a median $160,000 a year.
- Internships and entry level39 open roles are for someone starting out (12.4% of its open roles).
- Shifts, weekends and travel2.2% of the postings ask for weekend work, 6.2% for overtime or extended hours, and 0.3% name an evening, night or rotating shift.
- What applications askThe application forms for this work ask your citizenship or U.S. person status (75.9% of them), about a security clearance (36.7% of them), your GPA (6.3% of them), SAT, ACT or GRE scores (6.3% of them), your salary expectations (32.9% of them) and whether you have worked or interviewed at the company before (35.4% of them).
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Frequently asked questions
How much do data scientists and machine learning engineers earn in the space industry?
Going by the 187 distinct salaries currently posted for roles for data scientists and machine learning engineers (each put on a full-time year), the typical range is $134k–$270k/yr and the median is $163k/yr. The top posted figure is $424k/yr, at Lockheed Martin. 158 of the 366 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 229 open roles for data scientists and machine learning engineers whose requirements we read, 5 ask for a PhD, 18 a master's, 156 at least a bachelor's and 50 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. Of the employers hiring data scientists and machine learning engineers now, European Space Agency (ESA) says it checks credentials such as degrees. The section on how each employer checks you quotes each guide with its source.
Are these jobs real?
Every role here is read from a space employer's own careers page or job board (Muon Space, Array Labs, Anduril and Hubble Network 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.
Which space companies pay data scientists and machine learning engineers the most?
Of the 6 employers whose postings for data scientists and machine learning engineers state enough pay for a figure, the highest medians are Blue Origin ($198k/yr), True Anomaly ($198k/yr) and Amazon Leo ($169k/yr). A median is of what each employer's open roles post today, by the same formula for every employer.
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