Communications and payloads
Space Jobs for RF Engineers
, SpaceJobs.Now lists 449 open roles for RF and communications engineers on 67 space industry employers, including Muon Space, Array Labs and Anduril; typical pay across them is $147k to $270k a year (median $171k), topped by $377k a year advertised at Blue Origin.
Space Security EW/RF Operational Engineer (opens the job details)
The Aerospace Corporation · RF & Payloads · Colorado Springs, CO· 3w agoDetails
2026 Communications System and DSP Engineer (opens the job details)
The Aerospace Corporation · RF & Payloads · El Segundo, CA· 2w agoDetails
Modeling and Simulation Communications Engineer (opens the job details)
The Aerospace Corporation · RF & Payloads · Chantilly, VA, United States of America· 4d agoDetails
Measured from 292 distinct posted rates, across 47 employers, each as a year's pay (an hourly rate × 2,080 hours). 157 of the 449 listings open here post no pay at all.
Satellite and launch companies hire RF engineers to design the antennas, radios and communication links that connect spacecraft to the ground and to each other. Each listing here is re-verified on the employer's own job board once an hour.
Live roles for RF and communications engineers
Updated 30 Oct 2026, 16:03 UTCListed here: The Aerospace Corporation roles. See every employer
Antennas and phased arrays
6 openDesign and test antennas and phased arrays for satellites, user terminals and ground stations.
Sr. C2 Terminal RF & Antenna System Engineer (opens the job details)
The Aerospace Corporation · RF & Payloads · Los Angeles AFB, CA· 1w agoDetails
2027 RF / Antenna Engineer (opens the job details)
The Aerospace Corporation · RF & Payloads · Chantilly, VA, United States· 1mo agoDetails
Microwave Test Engineer (opens the job details)
The Aerospace Corporation · Systems & Test · El Segundo, CA· 1d agoDetails
RF and Antenna Engineer - Eng Specialist/Sr Eng Specialist (opens the job details)
The Aerospace Corporation · RF & Payloads · Chantilly, VA, United States· 3w agoDetails
Senior Antenna Systems Engineer (opens the job details)
The Aerospace Corporation · RF & Payloads · El Segundo, CA· 2mo agoDetails
Communications systems and signal processing
16 openLinks, modems, waveforms and signal processing, from the link budget to the hardware.
2026 Communications System and DSP Engineer (opens the job details)
The Aerospace Corporation · RF & Payloads · El Segundo, CA· 2w agoDetails
Modeling and Simulation Communications Engineer (opens the job details)
The Aerospace Corporation · RF & Payloads · Chantilly, VA, United States of America· 4d agoDetails
Lead Communications Systems Engineer (opens the job details)
The Aerospace Corporation · RF & Payloads · Westfield, VA, United States· 1mo agoDetails
Lead Communications Engineer: SIGINT Modeling and Simulation (opens the job details)
The Aerospace Corporation · RF & Payloads · Chantilly, VA, United States· 1w agoDetails
Senior Communications Systems Engineer (opens the job details)
The Aerospace Corporation · RF & Payloads · El Segundo, CA· 3mo agoDetails
Communications and Signal Processing Engineer (opens the job details)
The Aerospace Corporation · RF & Payloads · Chantilly, VA, United States· 3mo agoDetails
Show 6 more communications roles
Digital Signals & RF Engineer (opens the job details)
The Aerospace Corporation · RF & Payloads · El Segundo, CA· 2mo agoDetails
Senior Digital Signals & RF Engineer (opens the job details)
The Aerospace Corporation · RF & Payloads · El Segundo, CA· 4w agoDetails
Senior Comm DSP Engineer (opens the job details)
The Aerospace Corporation · RF & Payloads · El Segundo, CA· 2w agoDetails
Senior DSP/SDR Engineer (opens the job details)
The Aerospace Corporation · RF & Payloads · Chantilly, VA, United States· 4mo agoDetails
Senior Optical Communications Engineer (opens the job details)
The Aerospace Corporation · RF & Payloads · Chantilly, VA, United States· 1mo agoDetails
Payloads
3 openThe RF and optical payloads a satellite carries: broadband, direct-to-device, radar and laser links.
Lead SATCOM Payload Engineer (opens the job details)
The Aerospace Corporation · RF & Payloads · Los Angeles AFB, CA· 1w agoDetails
SATCOM Payload Engineer (opens the job details)
The Aerospace Corporation · RF & Payloads · Los Angeles AFB, CA· 1w agoDetails
RF engineers
6 openRF design, integration and test across spacecraft, terminals and ground systems.
Space Security EW/RF Operational Engineer (opens the job details)
The Aerospace Corporation · RF & Payloads · Colorado Springs, CO· 3w agoDetails
2027 RF Device Engineer (opens the job details)
The Aerospace Corporation · RF & Payloads · El Segundo, CA· 1mo agoDetails
Senior RF Analyst (opens the job details)
The Aerospace Corporation · RF & Payloads · Chantilly, VA, United States of America· 1mo agoDetails
Senior RF Spectrum Policy Analyst/Engineer (opens the job details)
The Aerospace Corporation · RF & Payloads · Chantilly, VA, United States of America· 2mo agoDetails
Senior RF Spectrum Engineer (opens the job details)
The Aerospace Corporation · RF & Payloads · El Segundo, CA· 2mo 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 168 out of 449 open roles for RF and communications 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 experience132
- Name a security clearance49
- Name u.S. person status (ITAR or EAR)21
- Require programming (Python, C++, MATLAB and similar)15
- Set a residency or work-authorization condition10
- Ask for a professional license2
Where a posting states years of experience, the median ask is 5 years.
Who hires RF and communications 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 RF and communications 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
- Booz Allen's technical assessment and interviews. How to apply
- Interview
- Interview
- Assessment
- Thales interviews. How to apply
- Interview
- Interview
- Assessment
- Airbus interviews and role tests. 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
- Assessment
- Lockheed Martin's interviews. How to apply
- Interview
- Interview
Where these roles are posted
The US states with the most open roles for RF and communications 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
- California177
- Washington64
- Colorado46
- Texas45
- Virginia28
- Maryland11
Space industry jobs by US state
The public record, in every industry: 98,200 electronics engineers, except computer work in the US (2025), projected to grow 4% by 2035, at a median $130k/yr (BLS, May 2025). Open space roles for RF and communications engineers post a median $160k/yr, 22.9% above it (pay research). Each state's page gives its own.
What our research measures about rf & payloads 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 hiring256 open roles (3.1% of the space roles we read) at 28 employers, 46 of them posted in the last 30 days.
- Where the jobs are3.9% of these roles are remote; the rest are on-site or hybrid.
- Who can apply84.7% of the postings are open only to US persons or US citizens, and 21.1% name a security clearance.
- Skills and toolsThe skills its postings name most: Python (60%), MATLAB (47%) and C or C++ (33%).
- Degrees and experience0.4% of the postings take a high school diploma or an associate's degree, 56.2% name a master's or PhD, and they ask for a median of 5 years of experience at the least.
- Pay transparency58.6% of the postings state their pay, at a median $162,000 a year.
- Internships and entry level12 open roles are for someone starting out (4.7% of its open roles).
- Shifts, weekends and travel33.5% of the postings ask for weekend work, 33.9% for overtime or extended hours.
- What applications askThe application forms for this work ask your citizenship or U.S. person status (88.8% of them), about a security clearance (58.8% of them), your GPA (42.8% of them), SAT, ACT or GRE scores (42.2% of them), your salary expectations (26.7% of them) and whether you have worked or interviewed at the company before (49.7% of them).
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Frequently asked questions
How much do RF and communications engineers earn in the space industry?
Going by the 292 distinct salaries currently posted for roles for RF and communications engineers (each put on a full-time year), the typical range is $147k–$270k/yr and the median is $171k/yr. The top posted figure is $377k/yr, at Blue Origin. 157 of the 449 open roles for RF and communications engineers state no pay, so check each listing.
What do RF roles ask for?
Usually an electrical engineering degree, often a master's, and experience with RF design and test equipment. Each listing states the degree, the experience and the location it asks for. Of the 168 open roles for RF and communications engineers whose requirements we read, 14 a master's, 143 at least a bachelor's and 11 name no degree.
What does a RF or communications engineer do at a space company?
An RF engineer at a space company designs and tests the radio side of a mission: antennas and phased arrays, transmitters and receivers, the link budget and the signal processing, on the satellite, in the user terminal and at the ground station.
How do space companies hire RF and communications 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 RF and communications 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 (Muon Space, Array Labs, Anduril and Hubble Network 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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RF, Communications & Payloads
Every open rf & payloads role across space employers, with live pay.