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Guidance, navigation and control

Space Jobs for GNC Engineers

, SpaceJobs.Now lists 155 open roles for GNC engineers on , including Muon Space, Outpost and Turion Space; typical pay across them is $135k to $221k a year (median $160k), topped by $298k a year advertised at Muon Space.

See 20 roles for GNC engineers
$135k–$221k/yrtypical paylive median $160k/yrup to $298k/yr at Muon Space

Measured from 73 distinct posted rates, across 15 employers, each as a year's pay (an hourly rate × 2,080 hours). 80 of the 155 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, 06:01 UTC

Listed here: Rocket Lab roles. See every employer

Flight dynamics, trajectory and mission design

6 open

Plan where a vehicle goes: trajectories, orbits, orbit determination and the design of the mission itself.

Guidance, navigation and control

14 open

The algorithms that steer and stabilize a vehicle: attitude control, navigation filters, landing guidance and rendezvous.

Show 4 more GNC roles

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.

SpecialtyOpen rolesTypical payHighest rate
Flight dynamics, trajectory and mission design31$136k–$226k/yr$298k/yr
Guidance, navigation and control124$134k–$221k/yr$260k/yr

What the roles ask for

Drawn from the requirement lines of 91 out of 155 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.

0

Ask for a PhD

10

Ask for a master's

73

Ask for at least a bachelor's

8

Name no degree

  • Name years of experience61
  • Require programming (Python, C++, MATLAB and similar)31
  • Name a security clearance13
  • Set a residency or work-authorization condition11
  • Name u.S. person status (ITAR or EAR)7

Where a posting states years of experience, the median ask is 5 years.

Who hires GNC engineers in the space industry

EmployerOpen rolesPay stated
Muon Space logoMuon Space8$83.2k–$298k/yr
Outpost logoOutpost1$150k–$180k/yr
Turion Space logoTurion Space1$125k–$175k/yr
Inversion Space logoInversion Space4$139k–$221k/yr
Xona Space Systems logoXona Space Systems6$130k–$210k/yr
Varda Space Industries logoVarda Space Industries3$169k–$244k/yr
Apex logoApex4$100k–$260k/yr
K2 Space logoK2 Space3$62.4k–$235k/yr
Stoke Space logoStoke Space1Not stated
Starfish Space logoStarfish Space1$100k–$180k/yr
True Anomaly logoTrue Anomaly8Not stated
Firefly Aerospace logoFirefly Aerospace3Not stated
Blue Origin logoBlue Origin34Not stated
Boeing logoBoeing8Not stated
Astroscale logoAstroscale7Not stated
ICEYE logoICEYE3Not stated
Northrop Grumman logoNorthrop Grumman3Not stated
The Exploration Company logoThe Exploration Company2Not stated
Axiom Space logoAxiom Space1Not stated
Isar Aerospace logoIsar Aerospace1Not stated
SpaceX logoSpaceX20$125k–$205k/yr
Spire Global logoSpire Global2Not stated
AST SpaceMobile logoAST SpaceMobile1Not stated
Voyager Technologies logoVoyager Technologies1Not stated
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory logoNASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory3$146k–$223k/yr
Ursa Major logoUrsa Major1$146k–$183k/yr
Relativity Space logoRelativity Space4$106k–$148k/yr
Vast logoVast1$160k/yr
Rocket Lab logoRocket Lab20$81k–$198k/yr

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 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

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). 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.

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Frequently asked questions

How much do GNC engineers earn in the space industry?

Going by the 73 distinct salaries currently posted for roles for GNC engineers (each put on a full-time year), the typical range is $135k–$221k/yr and the median is $160k/yr. The top posted figure is $298k/yr, at Muon Space. 80 of the 155 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 91 open roles for GNC engineers whose requirements we read, 10 a master's, 73 at least a bachelor's and 8 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.

Are these jobs real?

Every role here is read from a space employer's own careers page or job board (Muon Space, Outpost, Turion Space and Inversion 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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