Guidance, navigation and control
Space Jobs for GNC Engineers
, SpaceJobs.Now lists 272 open roles for GNC engineers on 73 space industry employers, including Muon Space, Anduril and Outpost; typical pay across them is $143k to $263k a year (median $173k), topped by $330k a year advertised at Rocket Lab.
Senior Mission Design Engineer (opens the job details)
Impulse Space · Flight Software · Redondo Beach, California· todayDetails
$120,000–$180,000/yr
Measured from 155 distinct posted rates, across 44 employers, each as a year's pay (an hourly rate × 2,080 hours). 115 of the 272 listings open here post no pay at all.
Launch and spacecraft companies hire GNC engineers to write the algorithms that steer a vehicle, and flight dynamics engineers to plan where it goes. Each listing here is re-verified on the employer's own job board once an hour.
Live roles for GNC engineers
Updated 30 Oct 2026, 14:04 UTCShowing the 1 roles that ask for a professional license, every country. See every role
Flight dynamics, trajectory and mission design
1 openPlan where a vehicle goes: trajectories, orbits, orbit determination and the design of the mission itself.
Senior Mission Design Engineer (opens the job details)
Impulse Space · Flight Software · Redondo Beach, California· todayDetails
$120,000–$180,000/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.
| Specialty | Open roles | Typical pay | Highest rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flight dynamics, trajectory and mission design | 69 | $145k–$257k/yr | $298k/yr |
| Guidance, navigation and control | 203 | $140k–$264k/yr | $330k/yr |
What the roles ask for
Drawn from the requirement lines of 135 out of 272 open roles for GNC 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 experience88
- Require programming (Python, C++, MATLAB and similar)45
- Name a security clearance30
- Set a residency or work-authorization condition13
- Name u.S. person status (ITAR or EAR)9
- Ask for a professional license1
- Ask for a certification1
Where a posting states years of experience, the median ask is 5 years.
Who hires GNC 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.
How each employer checks you
For every employer currently hiring GNC 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
- 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
- Airbus interviews and role tests. How to apply
- Interview
- Interview
- Assessment
- Booz Allen's technical assessment and 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 GNC 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
- California98
- Colorado44
- Washington25
- Texas23
- Arizona13
- Maryland11
- Virginia10
Space industry jobs by US state
The public record, in every industry: 68,700 aerospace engineers work in the US (2025), projected to grow 8% by 2035, at a median $135k/yr (BLS, May 2025). Open space roles for GNC engineers post a median $160k/yr, 18.6% above it (pay research). Each state's page gives its own.
What our research measures about flight software 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 hiring378 open roles (4.6% of the space roles we read) at 34 employers, 66 of them posted in the last 30 days.
- Where the jobs are5.8% of these roles are remote; the rest are on-site or hybrid.
- Who can apply82.9% of the postings are open only to US persons or US citizens, and 29.8% name a security clearance.
- Skills and toolsThe skills its postings name most: C or C++ (82%), Python (65%) and Linux (38%).
- Degrees and experience0.0% of the postings take a high school diploma or an associate's degree, 41.7% name a master's or PhD, and they ask for a median of 5 years of experience at the least.
- Pay transparency46.0% of the postings state their pay, at a median $160,000 a year.
- Internships and entry level37 open roles are for someone starting out (9.8% of its open roles).
- Shifts, weekends and travel16.8% of the postings ask for weekend work, 17.1% for overtime or extended hours.
- What applications askThe application forms for this work ask your citizenship or U.S. person status (87.4% of them), about a security clearance (44.5% of them), your GPA (24.4% of them), SAT, ACT or GRE scores (23.6% of them), your salary expectations (30.7% of them) and whether you have worked or interviewed at the company before (36.2% of them).
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Frequently asked questions
How much do GNC engineers earn in the space industry?
Going by the 155 distinct salaries currently posted for roles for GNC engineers (each put on a full-time year), the typical range is $143k–$263k/yr and the median is $173k/yr. The top posted figure is $330k/yr, at Rocket Lab. 115 of the 272 open roles for GNC engineers state no pay, so check each listing.
What do GNC roles ask for?
Usually an aerospace, mechanical or electrical engineering degree with controls and dynamics, often a master's, and experience in the simulation and coding tools the role names. Every posting spells out its exact requirements and work site, so read each one. Of the 135 open roles for GNC engineers whose requirements we read, 21 a master's, 104 at least a bachelor's and 10 name no degree.
What does a GNC engineer do at a space company?
A GNC engineer designs, simulates and tests the guidance, navigation and control of a vehicle: how it knows where it is, where it should go and how it gets there, from a rocket's ascent to a booster's landing or a satellite's pointing. Flight dynamics engineers plan the trajectories and orbits and track the vehicle once it flies.
How do space companies hire GNC 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 GNC 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, Anduril, Outpost and Cowboy 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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