Communications and payloads
Space Jobs for RF Engineers
, SpaceJobs.Now lists 170 open roles for RF and communications engineers on 21 space industry employers, including Muon Space, Hubble Network and Inversion Space; their typical pay runs $135k to $265k a year, with a median of $160k, and the highest advertised rate is $317k a year at Varda Space Industries.
RF Test Engineer I, Testbeds & EGSE (opens the job details)
Muon Space · Systems & Test · San Jose, CA, United States· 2w agoDetails
$143,000–$162,000/yrRF Test Engineer II, Testbeds & EGSE (opens the job details)
Muon Space · Systems & Test · San Jose, CA, United States· 2w agoDetails
$168,000–$186,000/yrStaff Mission Lead Systems Engineer - RF Systems (opens the job details)
Muon Space · Systems & Test · Northern VA· 2w agoDetails
$177,000–$246,000/yr
Measured from 97 distinct posted rates, across 16 employers, each as a year's pay (an hourly rate × 2,080 hours). 73 of the 170 open roles here state no pay.
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. Every role is checked against its employer's job board every hour.
Live roles for RF and communications engineers
Updated 29 Oct 2026, 14:01 UTCShowing the Muon Space roles. See every employer
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Communications systems and signal processing
2 openLinks, modems, waveforms and signal processing, from the link budget to the hardware.
FPGA RF Signal Processing Engineer (opens the job details)
Muon Space · RF & Payloads · San Jose, CA, United States· 2mo agoDetails
$190,000–$212,000/yr
RF engineers
3 openRF design, integration and test across spacecraft, terminals and ground systems.
RF Test Engineer I, Testbeds & EGSE (opens the job details)
Muon Space · Systems & Test · San Jose, CA, United States· 2w agoDetails
$143,000–$162,000/yrRF Test Engineer II, Testbeds & EGSE (opens the job details)
Muon Space · Systems & Test · San Jose, CA, United States· 2w agoDetails
$168,000–$186,000/yrStaff Mission Lead Systems Engineer - RF Systems (opens the job details)
Muon Space · Systems & Test · Northern VA· 2w agoDetails
$177,000–$246,000/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
Each specialty's typical pay is measured over its own open roles the way every band on this site is (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), and shown only where at least three distinct rates are posted.
| Specialty | Open roles | Typical pay | Highest rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Antennas and phased arrays | 34 | $146k–$249k/yr | $270k/yr |
| Communications systems and signal processing | 49 | $149k–$265k/yr | $280k/yr |
| Payloads | 7 | Too few rates | $152k/yr |
| RF engineers | 80 | $131k–$266k/yr | $317k/yr |
What the roles ask for
Read from the requirements of 19 of the 170 open roles for RF and communications engineers: the lines each role's pop-up lists from its posting. A role counts once, at the lowest degree it accepts.
- Name years of experience17
- Name a security clearance4
- Ask for coding (Python, SQL and the like)2
- Name u.S. person status (ITAR or EAR)1
The roles that name experience ask for a median of 5 years.
Who hires RF and communications engineers in the space industry
Ordered by what applying is worth, lifted by a referral boost for the employers that pay us a referral fee; it never changes what an employer pays you.
Where these roles are posted
Roles an employer posts for one country, and roles whose title names a language. Each place opens its own page; each count opens these roles.
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Frequently asked questions
How much do RF and communications engineers earn in the space industry?
Across the 97 distinct hourly rates posted for roles for RF and communications engineers right now, typical pay runs from $135000 to $265000 an hour, with a median of $160000. The highest posted rate is $316566 an hour, at Varda Space Industries. 73 of the 170 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 19 open roles for RF and communications engineers whose requirements we read, 1 a master's, 15 a bachelor's or a degree and 3 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.
Are these jobs real?
Every role here is read from a space employer's own careers page or job board (Muon Space, Hubble Network, Inversion Space and Xona 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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RF, Communications & Payloads
Every open rf & payloads role across space employers, with live pay.