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Engines and thrusters in California

Space Jobs for Propulsion Engineers in California

147 open roles for propulsion engineers at 14 space companies name a site in California, most of them in Long Beach and Hawthorne; typical pay runs $113k–$200k/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 →Propulsion engineers in every state →

Space companies hiring propulsion engineers in California

EmployerOpen roles hereMedian posted pay
SpaceX33$130k/yr
Relativity Space26$123k/yr
Rocket Lab23$115k/yr
Varda Space Industries13$160k/yr
Apex12$177k/yr
True Anomaly9not stated
Vast9$112k/yr
K2 Space6$141k/yr
Voyager Technologies5$145k/yr
Astranis4$87.7k/yr
Inversion Space3$165k/yr
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory2too few figures
Boeing1not stated
Turion Space1too few figures

Where the roles are

Kinds of work

Open space roles for propulsion engineers in California, newest first

Updated 30 Oct 2026, 07:01 UTC

The 100 newest of 147; each employer's page above lists all of its roles.

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What people ask about propulsion engineers' work in California

Which space companies hire propulsion engineers in California?

Today, SpaceX (33 roles), Relativity Space (26 roles), Rocket Lab (23 roles), Varda Space Industries (13 roles), Apex (12 roles), True Anomaly (9 roles), and 8 more. The table above lists every employer with a role open in California.

Where in California are the roles for propulsion engineers?

Most are in Long Beach (64), Hawthorne (36), Los Angeles (18), El Segundo (14), as the postings name their sites. A role that names several sites counts at each.

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

The roles here that state pay post a median $130k/yr, with typical pay from $113k–$200k/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 9,600 aerospace engineers working in California, in any industry, earn a median $158k/yr (BLS, May 2025, as our research sets beside the open roles).

Do roles for propulsion 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 propulsion engineers; remote roles that name no state are on the remote jobs page.