Engines and thrusters
Space Jobs for Propulsion Engineers
, SpaceJobs.Now lists 513 open roles for propulsion engineers on 58 space industry employers, including Anduril, Cowboy Space and Amazon Leo; typical pay across them is $126k to $240k a year (median $147k), topped by $328k a year advertised at Stoke Space.
Mission Certification Engineer 3 (Propulsion-Mechanical Engineer) (opens the job details)
United Launch Alliance · Launch & Ops · Cape Canaveral, FL, United States· todayDetails
Propulsion Systems Engineer 2 (opens the job details)
United Launch Alliance · Propulsion · Centennial, CO, United States· todayDetails
$77,528–$129,213/yrPropulsion Systems Design Engineer 2 (opens the job details)
United Launch Alliance · Propulsion · Centennial, CO, United States· todayDetails
$85,372–$142,287/yr
Measured from 307 distinct posted rates, across 37 employers, each as a year's pay (an hourly rate × 2,080 hours). 206 of the 513 listings open here post no pay at all.
Launch companies and spacecraft makers hire propulsion engineers to design, build and test rocket engines, thrusters and the fluid systems that feed them. Each listing here is re-verified on the employer's own job board once an hour.
Live roles for propulsion engineers
Updated 30 Oct 2026, 20:04 UTCListed here: United Launch Alliance roles. See every employer
Engines, turbomachinery and combustion
4 openDesign and develop liquid rocket engines and their parts: turbopumps, combustion devices, injectors and nozzles, from analysis to hardware.
Mission Certification Engineer 3 (Propulsion-Mechanical Engineer) (opens the job details)
United Launch Alliance · Launch & Ops · Cape Canaveral, FL, United States· todayDetails
Propulsion Systems Engineer 2 (opens the job details)
United Launch Alliance · Propulsion · Centennial, CO, United States· todayDetails
$77,528–$129,213/yrPropulsion Systems Design Engineer 2 (opens the job details)
United Launch Alliance · Propulsion · Centennial, CO, United States· todayDetails
$85,372–$142,287/yrPropulsion Systems Design Engineer 3 (opens the job details)
United Launch Alliance · Propulsion · Centennial, CO, United States· todayDetails
$104,087–$173,479/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.
What the roles ask for
Drawn from the requirement lines of 324 out of 513 open roles for propulsion 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 experience276
- Name u.S. person status (ITAR or EAR)52
- Name a security clearance41
- Set a residency or work-authorization condition34
- Ask for a professional license12
- Require programming (Python, C++, MATLAB and similar)6
Where a posting states years of experience, the median ask is 5 years.
Who hires propulsion engineers 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 propulsion 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.
- 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
- Lockheed Martin's interviews. How to apply
- Interview
- Interview
- Assessment
- The recruiter screening and team interviews. How to apply
- Interview
- Interview
- 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 propulsion 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.
In the US, by state
- California216
- Washington53
- Texas50
- Colorado46
- Florida32
- Alabama19
Space industry jobs by US state
In the US, by metro area
- The Los Angeles area189
- The Denver area20
- The Fort Collins area16
- The Bakersfield area15
- The Houston area15
- The San Francisco area10
Space industry jobs by metro area
The public record, in every industry: 68,700 aerospace engineers work in the US (2025), projected to grow 8% by 2035, at a median $135k/yr (BLS, May 2025). Open space roles for propulsion engineers post a median $130k/yr, 3.7% below it (pay research). Each state's page gives its own.
Roles posted for one country
What our research measures about propulsion 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 hiring230 open roles (2.8% of the space roles we read) at 22 employers, 58 of them posted in the last 30 days.
- Where the jobs are5.7% of these roles are remote; the rest are on-site or hybrid.
- Who can apply66.5% of the postings are open only to US persons or US citizens, and 21.6% name a security clearance.
- Skills and toolsThe skills its postings name most: Python (37%), GD&T (ASME Y14.5) (35%) and Siemens NX (32%).
- Degrees and experience0.0% of the postings take a high school diploma or an associate's degree, 45.4% name a master's or PhD, and they ask for a median of 4 years of experience at the least.
- Pay transparency57.0% of the postings state their pay, at a median $132,000 a year.
- Internships and entry level34 open roles are for someone starting out (14.8% of its open roles).
- Shifts, weekends and travel12.3% of the postings ask for weekend work, 8.8% for overtime or extended hours, and 0.4% name an evening, night or rotating shift.
- What applications askThe application forms for this work ask your citizenship or U.S. person status (83.8% of them), about a security clearance (35.8% of them), your GPA (18.4% of them), SAT, ACT or GRE scores (11.7% of them), your salary expectations (32.4% of them) and whether you have worked or interviewed at the company before (34.6% of them).
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Frequently asked questions
How much do propulsion engineers earn in the space industry?
Going by the 307 distinct salaries currently posted for roles for propulsion engineers (each put on a full-time year), the typical range is $126k–$240k/yr and the median is $147k/yr. The top posted figure is $328k/yr, at Stoke Space. 206 of the 513 open roles for propulsion engineers state no pay, so check each listing.
What do propulsion roles ask for?
Usually an engineering degree (mechanical and aerospace are the most common) and hands-on hardware experience in the role's area, from test operations to fluid systems. A license is rarely asked. Each listing states the degree, the years of experience and the location it asks for. Of the 324 open roles for propulsion engineers whose requirements we read, 2 ask for a PhD, 14 a master's, 293 at least a bachelor's and 15 name no degree.
What does a propulsion engineer do at a space company?
A propulsion engineer designs, analyzes and tests the systems that make thrust: engines and their turbomachinery, combustion devices, thrusters, and the valves, lines and tanks that carry propellants. Much of the work is on hardware: building test articles, firing them on a stand and changing the design from what the data shows.
How do space companies hire propulsion 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. Of the employers hiring propulsion engineers 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 (Anduril, Cowboy Space, Amazon Leo and Portal Space Systems 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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Propulsion & Engines
Every open propulsion role across space employers, with live pay.