CNC and machining
Space Jobs for Machinists
, SpaceJobs.Now lists 201 open roles for machinists on 43 space industry employers, including Astrolab, True Anomaly and Amazon Leo; typical pay across them is $70.3k to $170k a year (median $98.5k), topped by $218k a year advertised at Northwood Space.
Senior Buyer, Machining (opens the job details)
Vast · Supply Chain · Long Beach, California, United States· 1y+ agoDetails
$105,000–$150,000/yrSupervisor, Machine Shop (opens the job details)
Vast · Technicians · Long Beach, California, United States· 1mo agoDetails
$99,318–$140,983/yrSenior CNC Programmer (opens the job details)
Vast · Technicians · Hawthorne, California, United States· 1y+ agoDetails
$44–$63/hr
Measured from 121 distinct posted rates, across 25 employers, each as a year's pay (an hourly rate × 2,080 hours). 80 of the 201 listings open here post no pay at all.
Rocket and spacecraft makers hire machinists to cut the engine parts, structures and fittings that fly, on CNC mills, lathes and multi-axis machines. Each listing here is re-verified on the employer's own job board once an hour.
Live roles for machinists
Updated 30 Oct 2026, 16:03 UTCListed here: Vast roles. See every employer
CNC programmers
1 openProgram the machines: CAM, toolpaths and setups for flight parts.
Senior CNC Programmer (opens the job details)
Vast · Technicians · Hawthorne, California, United States· 1y+ agoDetails
$44–$63/hr
CNC machinists and operators
1 openSet up and run mills, lathes and multi-axis machines that make engine and structure parts.
CNC Machinist (opens the job details)
Vast · Technicians · Long Beach, California, United States· 2mo agoDetails
$23–$56/hr
Machinists
2 openMachinist roles across factories and machine shops.
Senior Buyer, Machining (opens the job details)
Vast · Supply Chain · Long Beach, California, United States· 1y+ agoDetails
$105,000–$150,000/yrSupervisor, Machine Shop (opens the job details)
Vast · Technicians · Long Beach, California, United States· 1mo agoDetails
$99,318–$140,983/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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CNC programmers | 43 | $104k–$171k/yr | $208k/yr |
| CNC machinists and operators | 94 | $68.1k–$120k/yr | $170k/yr |
| Machinists | 64 | $105k–$192k/yr | $218k/yr |
What the roles ask for
Drawn from the requirement lines of 104 out of 201 open roles for machinists, 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 experience92
- Ask for a certification27
- Require programming (Python, C++, MATLAB and similar)24
- Name u.S. person status (ITAR or EAR)13
- Set a residency or work-authorization condition11
Where a posting states years of experience, the median ask is 5 years.
Who hires machinists 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 machinists: 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
- Thales interviews. How to apply
- Interview
- Interview
- Assessment
- The recruiter screening and team interviews. How to apply
- Interview
- Interview
Where these roles are posted
The US states with the most open roles for machinists, 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
- California82
- Texas31
- Washington31
- Alabama15
Space industry jobs by US state
The public record, in every industry: 288,300 machinists work in the US (2025), projected to grow 1% by 2035, at a median $58.8k/yr (BLS, May 2025). Open space roles for machinists post a median $86.3k/yr, 46.9% above it (pay research). Each state's page gives its own.
Roles posted for one country
What our research measures about technicians 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 hiring1,439 open roles (17.7% of the space roles we read) at 37 employers, 327 of them posted in the last 30 days.
- Where the jobs are2.9% of these roles are remote; the rest are on-site or hybrid.
- Who can apply78.2% of the postings are open only to US persons or US citizens, and 7.1% name a security clearance.
- Skills and toolsThe skills its postings name most: GD&T (ASME Y14.5) (23%), Lean or Six Sigma (19%) and SAP or another ERP (13%).
- Degrees and experience38.4% of the postings take a high school diploma or an associate's degree, 9.4% name a master's or PhD, and they ask for a median of 2 years of experience at the least.
- Pay transparency41.3% of the postings state their pay, at a median $85,000 a year.
- Internships and entry level85 open roles are for someone starting out (5.9% of its open roles).
- Shifts, weekends and travel42.0% of the postings ask for weekend work, 48.4% for overtime or extended hours, and 15.4% name an evening, night or rotating shift.
- What applications askThe application forms for this work ask your citizenship or U.S. person status (87.0% of them), about a security clearance (58.7% of them), your GPA (20.2% of them), SAT, ACT or GRE scores (19.5% of them), your salary expectations (29.3% of them) and whether you have worked or interviewed at the company before (55.1% of them).
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Frequently asked questions
How much do machinists earn in the space industry?
Going by the 121 distinct salaries currently posted for roles for machinists (each put on a full-time year), the typical range is $70.3k–$170k/yr and the median is $98.5k/yr. The top posted figure is $218k/yr, at Northwood Space. 80 of the 201 open roles for machinists state no pay, so check each listing.
Do I need a degree?
Usually not: machinist roles ask for machining experience, the machines and controls they name and the ability to read drawings and tolerances. Each listing states what it requires, the shift and the location. Of the 104 open roles for machinists whose requirements we read, 20 at least a bachelor's and 84 name no degree.
What does a machinist do at a space company?
A machinist at a space company sets up and runs CNC machines that cut flight hardware from metal, reads drawings and tolerances, checks parts as they come off the machine, and for programmer roles writes the toolpaths the machines follow.
How do space companies hire machinists?
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 machinists now, none publishes a recorded interview or an ID check in the guides we hold. 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 (Astrolab, True Anomaly, Amazon Leo 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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