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Structures, thermal and mechanisms in California

Space Jobs for Mechanical Engineers in California

265 open roles for mechanical engineers at 23 space companies name a site in California, most of them in Long Beach and Los Angeles; typical pay runs $111k–$195k/yr. Listed straight from each employer's careers site, checked every hour.

Browse the rolesCalifornia in the research on where space jobs are →Every space job in California →Mechanical engineers in every state →

Space companies hiring mechanical engineers in California

EmployerOpen roles hereMedian posted pay
Relativity Space50$129k/yr
SpaceX38$130k/yr
K2 Space29$158k/yr
Vast22$112k/yr
Rocket Lab20$115k/yr
Varda Space Industries18$160k/yr
Astranis15$100k/yr
Apex11$148k/yr
Muon Space11$183k/yr
Inversion Space10$165k/yr
True Anomaly9not stated
Boeing6not stated
Voyager Technologies6$135k/yr
Northrop Grumman4not stated
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory3$121k/yr
Terran Orbital3$105k/yr
Blue Origin2not stated
Northwood Space2too few figures
Xona Space Systems2too few figures
Momentus1too few figures
Outpost1too few figures
Planet1too few figures
Turion Space1too few figures

Where the roles are

Kinds of work

Open space roles for mechanical engineers in California, newest first

Updated 30 Oct 2026, 08:01 UTC

The 100 newest of 265; each employer's page above lists all of its roles.

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What people ask about mechanical engineers' work in California

Which space companies hire mechanical engineers in California?

Today, Relativity Space (50 roles), SpaceX (38 roles), K2 Space (29 roles), Vast (22 roles), Rocket Lab (20 roles), Varda Space Industries (18 roles), and 17 more. The table above lists every employer with a role open in California.

Where in California are the roles for mechanical engineers?

Most are in Long Beach (98), Los Angeles (43), Hawthorne (38), El Segundo (24), as the postings name their sites. A role that names several sites counts at each.

How much do space roles for mechanical engineers in California pay?

The roles here that state pay post a median $132k/yr, with typical pay from $111k–$195k/yr; 88.2% of California's postings state their pay at all, which our research on where space jobs are compares state by state. For reference, the 31,200 mechanical engineers working in California, in any industry, earn a median $131k/yr (BLS, May 2025, the public record).

Do roles for mechanical engineers in California require US citizenship?

Of the 3,014 space postings in California whose text we read, 79.6% are limited to US citizens or US persons and 23.5% name a security clearance, by our research on who can apply, which compares every state. Each posting states its own rule, often citing export control under ITAR or the EAR.

How is this list made?

We read each employer's own job board every hour. A role is listed here when it is a US role and its own location line names a place in California, by the same reading as our research on where space jobs are, and its title names the profession by the same rule as the page for mechanical engineers; remote roles that name no state are on the remote jobs page.