Space Jobs for Physicists

Showing the 95 roles posted for United States. See every role

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 58 out of 113 open roles for physicists, astronomers and optical 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 experience35
• Name a security clearance16
• Require programming (Python, C++, MATLAB and similar)14
• Name u.S. person status (ITAR or EAR)5
• Set a residency or work-authorization condition4

Where a posting states years of experience, the median ask is 3 years.

Who hires physicists, astronomers and optical engineers in the space industry

Employer	Open roles	Pay stated
Muon Space	1	$171k–$218k/yr
Cowboy Space	2	$145k–$220k/yr
Johns Hopkins APL	2	$85k–$290k/yr
True Anomaly	1	$95k–$155k/yr
Amazon Leo	4	$136k–$215k/yr
Inversion Space	1	$161k–$221k/yr
BAE Systems Space & Mission Systems	2	$97k–$201k/yr
K2 Space	6	$100k–$220k/yr
Apex	2	$90k–$160k/yr
RTX	2	$62.9k–$144k/yr
Viasat	1	$94.5k–$149k/yr
Impulse Space	1	$120k–$150k/yr
Blue Origin	7	$81.3k–$257k/yr
CesiumAstro	2	$133k–$161k/yr
Voyager Technologies	2	$85k–$205k/yr
Firefly Aerospace	1	Not stated
The Aerospace Corporation	19	Not stated
Thales Alenia Space	9	Not stated
ArianeGroup	2	Not stated
OHB	2	Not stated
European Space Agency (ESA)	1	Not stated
Exotrail	1	Not stated
Foundational	1	Not stated
ICEYE	1	Not stated
Satellogic	1	Not stated
Overview Energy	1	$110k–$165k/yr
SpaceX	18	$105k–$285k/yr
Northrop Grumman	4	$108k–$224k/yr
Boeing	1	$53.6k–$72.5k/yr
L3Harris	3	Not stated
Rocket Lab	1	$52k/yr
Amentum	1	Not stated
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory	7	$83.8k–$227k/yr
Astranis	3	$60.3k–$145k/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.

How each employer checks you

For every employer currently hiring physicists, astronomers and optical 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.

Amazon Leo4 open

Assessment

Amazon's interview loop. How to apply

Interview

Interview

Blue Origin7 open

Assessment

No general test published. How to apply

Interview

None published

Thales Alenia Space9 open

Assessment

Thales interviews. How to apply

Interview

Interview

European Space Agency (ESA)1 open

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

Northrop Grumman4 open

Assessment

The recruiter screening and team interviews. How to apply

Interview

Interview

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory7 open

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 physicists, astronomers and optical 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.

What our research measures about science & data 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 hiring119 open roles (1.5% of the space roles we read) at 23 employers, 41 of them posted in the last 30 days.
• Where the jobs are16.0% of these roles are remote; the rest are on-site or hybrid.
• Who can apply68.1% of the postings are open only to US persons or US citizens, and 37.2% name a security clearance.
• Skills and toolsThe skills its postings name most: Python (71%), C or C++ (27%) and SQL (18%).
• Degrees and experience1.8% of the postings take a high school diploma or an associate's degree, 64.6% name a master's or PhD, and they ask for a median of 3 years of experience at the least.
• Pay transparency64.7% of the postings state their pay, at a median $153,000 a year.
• Internships and entry level8 open roles are for someone starting out (6.7% of its open roles).
• Shifts, weekends and travel4.4% of the postings ask for weekend work, 4.4% for overtime or extended hours.
• What applications askThe application forms for this work ask your citizenship or U.S. person status (85.0% of them), about a security clearance (40.0% of them), your GPA (8.3% of them), SAT, ACT or GRE scores (8.3% of them), your salary expectations (36.7% of them) and whether you have worked or interviewed at the company before (38.3% of them).