Space Jobs for Software Engineers

Showing the 60 roles that name a security clearance, every country. 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 289 out of 1,438 open roles for software 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 experience239
• Require programming (Python, C++, MATLAB and similar)126
• Name a security clearance60
• Name u.S. person status (ITAR or EAR)33
• Set a residency or work-authorization condition24
• Ask for a professional license3
• Ask for a certification1

Where a posting states years of experience, the median ask is 5 years.

Who hires software engineers in the space industry

Employer	Open roles	Pay stated
Muon Space	37	$83.2k–$298k/yr
Array Labs	6	$150k–$300k/yr
Anduril	21	$129k–$292k/yr
Hubble Network	1	$153k–$250k/yr
Outpost	1	$275k–$325k/yr
Umbra	8	$135k–$235k/yr
Cowboy Space	9	$93.6k–$250k/yr
Amazon Leo	119	$80.1k–$350k/yr
Johns Hopkins APL	2	$47k–$245k/yr
Portal Space Systems	1	$160k–$205k/yr
Astrolab	1	$190k–$220k/yr
True Anomaly	40	$70k–$340k/yr
Turion Space	1	$175k–$225k/yr
E-Space	14	$120k–$225k/yr
LeoLabs	4	$171k–$195k/yr
Inversion Space	14	$101k–$236k/yr
Kymeta	1	$140k–$190k/yr
K2 Space	18	$62.4k–$240k/yr
General Galactic	2	$140k–$250k/yr
Xona Space Systems	9	$132k–$274k/yr
Loft Federal	4	$100k–$185k/yr
Quindar	7	$120k–$190k/yr
Varda Space Industries	6	$169k–$216k/yr
BAE Systems Space & Mission Systems	3	$118k–$261k/yr
Loft Orbital	16	$140k–$275k/yr
Apex	9	$125k–$250k/yr
Viasat	47	$43.5k–$265k/yr
Skylo	2	Not stated
Astra	2	$140k–$240k/yr
Stoke Space	8	$58.2k–$347k/yr
Impulse Space	17	$66.6k–$300k/yr
RTX	13	$75.8k–$277k/yr
Capella Space	1	$146k–$191k/yr
Planet	12	$136k–$226k/yr
Epsilon3	1	$120k–$180k/yr
Quantum Space	2	$140k–$200k/yr
BlackSky	6	$140k–$205k/yr
Slingshot Aerospace	3	$100k–$265k/yr
Sophia Space	1	$125k–$191k/yr
Vast	12	$123k–$268k/yr
Spire Global	10	$90k–$203k/yr
CesiumAstro	26	$113k–$225k/yr
Voyager Technologies	10	$48.9k–$220k/yr
Reflect Orbital	3	$56.2k–$64.5k/yr
Blue Origin	133	$55.3k–$377k/yr
Relativity Space	22	$102k–$308k/yr
Northwood Space	8	$120k–$224k/yr
GITAI	1	$58.2k–$83.2k/yr
Firefly Aerospace	6	Not stated
The Aerospace Corporation	32	Not stated
ICEYE	25	Not stated
OHB	19	Not stated
Axiom Space	12	Not stated
The Exploration Company	11	Not stated
Isar Aerospace	9	Not stated
Exotrail	7	Not stated
Star Catcher	7	Not stated
Constellr	6	Not stated
Eutelsat	5	Not stated
Open Cosmos	5	Not stated
Astroscale	4	Not stated
Elveo Mobile	4	Not stated
Reflex Aerospace	4	Not stated
Satellogic	4	Not stated
Foundational	3	Not stated
Kepler Communications	3	Not stated
Leaf Space	3	Not stated
Telesat	3	Not stated
ClearSpace	2	Not stated
Dawn Aerospace	2	Not stated
Venus Aerospace	2	Not stated
Airbus Defence and Space	1	Not stated
European Space Agency (ESA)	1	Not stated
NewOrbit Space	1	Not stated
Rocket Factory Augsburg	1	Not stated
Sidus Space	1	Not stated
Spaceium	1	Not stated
Synspective	1	Not stated
Intuitive Machines	7	Not stated
Sierra Space	13	$106k–$215k/yr
SES	6	$75k–$110k/yr
Starfish Space	3	$100k–$180k/yr
L3Harris	2	Not stated
Katalyst Space Technologies	4	$105k–$180k/yr
ispace	9	$101k–$189k/yr
SpaceX	284	$62.4k–$355k/yr
AST SpaceMobile	19	Not stated
General Dynamics Mission Systems	2	$138k–$155k/yr
Rendezvous Robotics	3	$85k–$115k/yr
Northrop Grumman	40	$69.3k–$289k/yr
Vantor	36	$86k–$215k/yr
Boeing	14	$91.8k–$286k/yr
Terran Orbital	2	$125k–$190k/yr
United Launch Alliance	16	$48k–$275k/yr
Rocket Lab	36	$56.2k–$300k/yr
Iridium	4	$64.5k–$165k/yr
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory	4	$127k–$222k/yr
Lockheed Martin	8	$81.1k–$224k/yr
CACI	9	$76k–$190k/yr
Virgin Galactic	3	$118k–$202k/yr
Lunar Outpost	6	$49.9k/yr
Ursa Major	4	$110k–$224k/yr
US Space Force	1	$90.5k–$140k/yr
Peraton	1	$66k–$106k/yr
Astranis	21	$60.3k–$280k/yr
AstroForge	1	$140k–$229k/yr
Benchmark Space Systems	1	$47.8k–$54.1k/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 software 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 Leo119 open

Assessment

Amazon's interview loop. How to apply

Interview

Interview

Blue Origin133 open

Assessment

No general test published. How to apply

Interview

None published

Northrop Grumman40 open

Assessment

The recruiter screening and team interviews. How to apply

Interview

Interview

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory4 open

Assessment

No general test published. How to apply

Interview

None published

Lockheed Martin8 open

Assessment

Lockheed Martin's interviews. How to apply

Interview

Interview

US Space Force1 open

Assessment

The qualification review and interview. How to apply

Interview

Interview

Credentials

Add the documents the announcement asks for, such as academic transcripts or military documents like your DD-214. Source

Where these roles are posted

The US states with the most open roles for software 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 software & it 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 hiring895 open roles (11.0% of the space roles we read) at 45 employers, 201 of them posted in the last 30 days.
• Where the jobs are7.3% of these roles are remote; the rest are on-site or hybrid.
• Who can apply83.4% of the postings are open only to US persons or US citizens, and 28.5% name a security clearance.
• Skills and toolsThe skills its postings name most: Python (64%), Docker or Kubernetes (39%) and Linux (34%).
• Degrees and experience4.3% of the postings take a high school diploma or an associate's degree, 12.4% name a master's or PhD, and they ask for a median of 4 years of experience at the least.
• Pay transparency60.2% of the postings state their pay, at a median $160,000 a year.
• Internships and entry level48 open roles are for someone starting out (5.4% of its open roles).
• Shifts, weekends and travel37.2% of the postings ask for weekend work, 35.5% for overtime or extended hours, and 0.3% name an evening, night or rotating shift.
• What applications askThe application forms for this work ask your citizenship or U.S. person status (88.0% of them), about a security clearance (57.2% of them), your GPA (42.8% of them), SAT, ACT or GRE scores (42.4% of them), your salary expectations (24.9% of them) and whether you have worked or interviewed at the company before (54.0% of them).

What our research measures about flight software 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 hiring378 open roles (4.6% of the space roles we read) at 34 employers, 66 of them posted in the last 30 days.
• Where the jobs are5.8% of these roles are remote; the rest are on-site or hybrid.
• Who can apply82.9% of the postings are open only to US persons or US citizens, and 29.8% name a security clearance.
• Skills and toolsThe skills its postings name most: C or C++ (82%), Python (65%) and Linux (38%).
• Degrees and experience0.0% of the postings take a high school diploma or an associate's degree, 41.7% name a master's or PhD, and they ask for a median of 5 years of experience at the least.
• Pay transparency46.0% of the postings state their pay, at a median $160,000 a year.
• Internships and entry level37 open roles are for someone starting out (9.8% of its open roles).
• Shifts, weekends and travel16.8% of the postings ask for weekend work, 17.1% for overtime or extended hours.
• What applications askThe application forms for this work ask your citizenship or U.S. person status (87.4% of them), about a security clearance (44.5% of them), your GPA (24.4% of them), SAT, ACT or GRE scores (23.6% of them), your salary expectations (30.7% of them) and whether you have worked or interviewed at the company before (36.2% of them).