Flight and ground software
Space Jobs for Software Engineers
, SpaceJobs.Now lists 1,559 open roles for software engineers on 115 space industry employers, including Muon Space, Array Labs and Anduril; typical pay across them is $143k to $268k a year (median $169k), topped by $377k a year advertised at Blue Origin.
Embedded Flight Software Engineer (opens the job details)
AstroForge · Flight Software · Seal Beach, United States· 1y+ agoDetails
$140,000–$228,500/yr
Measured from 1,064 distinct posted rates, across 80 employers, each as a year's pay (an hourly rate × 2,080 hours). 492 of the 1,559 listings open here post no pay at all.
Space companies hire software engineers for the code that flies the vehicle and the software on the ground that builds, tests and operates it. Each listing here is re-verified on the employer's own job board once an hour.
Live roles for software engineers
Updated 30 Oct 2026, 19:03 UTCListed here: AstroForge roles. See every employer
Flight and embedded software
1 openSoftware that runs on the vehicle: flight software, embedded and real-time code, firmware.
Embedded Flight Software Engineer (opens the job details)
AstroForge · Flight Software · Seal Beach, United States· 1y+ agoDetails
$140,000–$228,500/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 269 out of 1,559 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 experience220
- Require programming (Python, C++, MATLAB and similar)118
- Name a security clearance55
- Name u.S. person status (ITAR or EAR)31
- Set a residency or work-authorization condition23
- 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
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.
- 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
- Airbus interviews and role tests. How to apply
- Interview
- Interview
- Assessment
- Thales interviews. How to apply
- Interview
- Interview
- Assessment
- ESA's pre-screening and panel interview. How to apply
- Interview
- Interview
- Credentials
- You complete a basic medical screening for the ESA Medical Officer and a basic background screening run by an external party; in a second stage ESA contacts your referees and verifies your diploma. Source
- 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
- 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.
In the US, by state
- California561
- Washington258
- Colorado242
- Texas101
- Virginia67
- Florida34
- Maryland25
- Arizona23
- Alabama11
Space industry jobs by US state
In the US, by metro area
- The Los Angeles area375
- The Denver area173
- The San Jose area96
- The Washington, DC area93
- The San Francisco area52
- The Colorado Springs area40
- The Austin area36
- The Houston area36
- The Boulder area29
- The San Diego area28
- The Brownsville area20
Space industry jobs by metro area
The public record, in every industry: 1,717,800 software developers work in the US (2025), projected to grow 10% by 2035, at a median $136k/yr (BLS, May 2025). Open space roles for software engineers post a median $160k/yr, 17.7% above it (pay research). Each state's page gives its own.
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).
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Frequently asked questions
How much do software engineers earn in the space industry?
Going by the 1,064 distinct salaries currently posted for roles for software engineers (each put on a full-time year), the typical range is $143k–$268k/yr and the median is $169k/yr. The top posted figure is $377k/yr, at Blue Origin. 492 of the 1,559 open roles for software engineers state no pay, so check each listing.
Do I need aerospace experience?
Not always: many roles ask for strong software experience in the language and domain they name (C++ and embedded systems for flight software, cloud and web stacks for ground software) rather than space experience. Every posting spells out its exact requirements and work site, so read each one. Of the 269 open roles for software engineers whose requirements we read, 6 a master's, 189 at least a bachelor's and 74 name no degree.
What does a software engineer do at a space company?
A software engineer at a space company writes either the software that runs on the vehicle (flight and embedded code that has to work the first time) or the software around it: mission control, telemetry and simulation, test automation, and the systems the factory and the business run on.
How do space companies hire software 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 software engineers now, European Space Agency (ESA) and US Space Force say they check credentials such as degrees. 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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