Structures, thermal and mechanisms
Space Jobs for Mechanical Engineers
, SpaceJobs.Now lists 621 open roles for mechanical engineers on 33 space industry employers, including Muon Space, Outpost and Momentus; typical pay across them is $110k to $194k a year (median $132k), topped by $328k a year advertised at Stoke Space.
AIT Mechanical Engineer (Lunar Lander) (opens the job details)
The Exploration Company · Systems & Test · Bordeaux, France· todayDetails
Mechanism Engineer (opens the job details)
The Exploration Company · Mechanical · Turin, Italy· todayDetails
Mechanical Analyses Engineer (opens the job details)
The Exploration Company · Mechanical · Munich, Germany· 2d agoDetails
Measured from 293 distinct posted rates, across 23 employers, each as a year's pay (an hourly rate × 2,080 hours). 328 of the 621 listings open here post no pay at all.
Space companies hire mechanical engineers to design the vehicle's structures, mechanisms and thermal systems, and the equipment that handles it on the ground. Each listing here is re-verified on the employer's own job board once an hour.
Live roles for mechanical engineers
Updated 29 Oct 2026, 19:01 UTCListed here: The Exploration Company roles. See every employer
Thermal engineering
4 openKeep hardware at the right temperature in launch, vacuum and reentry: thermal design, analysis and test.
Thermal Analysis Engineer (opens the job details)
The Exploration Company · Mechanical · Munich, Germany· 1w agoDetails
AIT EVT & Thermal Engineer (opens the job details)
The Exploration Company · Systems & Test · Munich, Germany· 1mo agoDetails
Spacecraft Thermal Engineer (opens the job details)
The Exploration Company · Mechanical · Munich, Germany· 1mo agoDetails
Future Projects Thermal Engineer (opens the job details)
The Exploration Company · Mechanical · Munich, Germany· 2mo agoDetails
Mechanisms and deployables
1 openThe moving parts: separation systems, actuators, hinges, deployable arrays and antennas, and the robotics of a vehicle.
Mechanism Engineer (opens the job details)
The Exploration Company · Mechanical · Turin, Italy· todayDetails
Mechanical design engineers
3 openDesign parts and assemblies in CAD, take them through drawings and production, and support them in test and flight.
AIT Mechanical Engineer (Lunar Lander) (opens the job details)
The Exploration Company · Systems & Test · Bordeaux, France· todayDetails
Mechanical Analyses Engineer (opens the job details)
The Exploration Company · Mechanical · Munich, Germany· 2d agoDetails
Principal Mechanical Engineer (opens the job details)
The Exploration Company · Mechanical · Munich, Germany· 3mo agoDetails
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 147 out of 621 open roles for mechanical 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 experience125
- Name u.S. person status (ITAR or EAR)24
- Name a security clearance8
- Ask for a professional license5
- Require programming (Python, C++, MATLAB and similar)5
- Set a residency or work-authorization condition5
- Name a PE license2
Where a posting states years of experience, the median ask is 5 years.
Who hires mechanical engineers in the space industry
Sorted by the expected value of an application (acceptance odds times posted pay). Employers with a referral agreement get a boost in this order, which has no effect on the salary they offer.
Where these roles are posted
Two groupings: roles posted for a single country, and roles with a language in the title. A place name leads to its own page, and a count lists the matching roles.
Roles posted for one country
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Frequently asked questions
How much do mechanical engineers earn in the space industry?
Going by the 293 distinct salaries currently posted for roles for mechanical engineers (each put on a full-time year), the typical range is $110k–$194k/yr and the median is $132k/yr. The top posted figure is $328k/yr, at Stoke Space. 328 of the 621 open roles for mechanical engineers state no pay, so check each listing.
Is a PE license required for space mechanical roles?
Rarely: most roles ask for a mechanical or aerospace degree and experience with the CAD and analysis tools they name. A PE license comes up mostly for facilities and pressure systems work. Every posting spells out its exact requirements and work site, so read each one. Of the 147 open roles for mechanical engineers whose requirements we read, 6 a master's, 131 at least a bachelor's and 10 name no degree.
What does a mechanical engineer do at a space company?
A mechanical engineer at a space company designs hardware in CAD and proves it works: sizing structures and tanks for launch loads, keeping parts at temperature in vacuum, building the mechanisms that separate and deploy, and supporting each part through manufacturing and test.
How do space companies hire mechanical 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, Momentus 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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Space jobs by profession
Every profession space companies hire, with live counts and pay.
Mechanical, Structures & Thermal
Every open mechanical role across space employers, with live pay.