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Flight and ground software

Space Jobs for Software Engineers

, SpaceJobs.Now lists 890 open roles for software engineers on , including Muon Space, Hubble Network and Outpost; typical pay across them is $141k to $265k a year (median $160k), topped by $355k a year advertised at SpaceX.

See 890 roles for software engineers
$141k–$265k/yrtypical paylive median $160k/yrup to $355k/yr at SpaceX

Measured from 524 distinct posted rates, across 31 employers, each as a year's pay (an hourly rate × 2,080 hours). 366 of the 890 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 29 Oct 2026, 16:01 UTC

A few of our links carry a referral code. When one leads to a hire, the employer may pay us a fee; you pay nothing, and the salary on offer stays the same.

Flight and embedded software

169 open

Software that runs on the vehicle: flight software, embedded and real-time code, firmware.

See all 169 flight software roles

Web, backend and applications

104 open

Customer products, internal tools and the factory and business systems a space company runs on.

See all 104 application roles

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.

SpecialtyOpen rolesTypical payHighest rate
Flight and embedded software169$135k–$237k/yr$275k/yr
Ground, mission and test software113$135k–$265k/yr$340k/yr
Cloud, DevOps and infrastructure164$145k–$265k/yr$310k/yr
Web, backend and applications104$148k–$265k/yr$290k/yr
Software engineers340$145k–$265k/yr$355k/yr

What the roles ask for

Drawn from the requirement lines of 83 out of 890 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.

0

Ask for a PhD

0

Ask for a master's

54

Ask for at least a bachelor's

29

Name no degree

  • Name years of experience70
  • Require programming (Python, C++, MATLAB and similar)41
  • Name u.S. person status (ITAR or EAR)19
  • Name a security clearance19
  • Set a residency or work-authorization condition7

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

Who hires software engineers in the space industry

EmployerOpen rolesPay stated
Muon Space logoMuon Space37$83.2k–$298k/yr
Hubble Network logoHubble Network1$153k–$250k/yr
Outpost logoOutpost1$275k–$325k/yr
Turion Space logoTurion Space1$175k–$225k/yr
Inversion Space logoInversion Space14$101k–$236k/yr
Xona Space Systems logoXona Space Systems9$132k–$274k/yr
Varda Space Industries logoVarda Space Industries6$169k–$216k/yr
K2 Space logoK2 Space17$62.4k–$240k/yr
Apex logoApex9$125k–$250k/yr
Loft Orbital logoLoft Orbital16$140k–$275k/yr
Quindar logoQuindar7$120k–$190k/yr
Stoke Space logoStoke Space8$58.2k–$347k/yr
Epsilon3 logoEpsilon31$120k–$180k/yr
Slingshot Aerospace logoSlingshot Aerospace3$100k–$265k/yr
Northwood Space logoNorthwood Space7$120k–$224k/yr
BlackSky logoBlackSky6$140k–$205k/yr
Vantor logoVantor36$86k–$215k/yr
Starfish Space logoStarfish Space3$100k–$180k/yr
True Anomaly logoTrue Anomaly42$70k–$340k/yr
Firefly Aerospace logoFirefly Aerospace6Not stated
Blue Origin logoBlue Origin134Not stated
ICEYE logoICEYE25Not stated
Axiom Space logoAxiom Space12Not stated
The Exploration Company logoThe Exploration Company11Not stated
Isar Aerospace logoIsar Aerospace9Not stated
Northrop Grumman logoNorthrop Grumman6Not stated
Astroscale logoAstroscale4Not stated
Boeing logoBoeing4Not stated
Kepler Communications logoKepler Communications4Not stated
Dawn Aerospace logoDawn Aerospace2Not stated
Planet logoPlanet13$104k–$181k/yr
SpaceX logoSpaceX287$62.4k–$355k/yr
Spire Global logoSpire Global10$90k–$171k/yr
AST SpaceMobile logoAST SpaceMobile17Not stated
Loft Federal logoLoft Federal4$100k–$120k/yr
Voyager Technologies logoVoyager Technologies10$48.9k–$220k/yr
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory logoNASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory4$127k–$222k/yr
Ursa Major logoUrsa Major5$62.4k–$224k/yr
Relativity Space logoRelativity Space22$102k–$206k/yr
Terran Orbital logoTerran Orbital2$125k–$160k/yr
Vast logoVast13$123k–$189k/yr
Rocket Lab logoRocket Lab37$56.2k–$210k/yr
Astranis logoAstranis25$60.3k–$200k/yr

Sorted by the expected value of an application (acceptance odds times posted pay). Employers with a referral agreement get a boost in this order, which has no effect on the salary they offer.

Where these roles are posted

Two groupings: roles posted for a single country, and roles with a language in the title. A place name leads to its own page, and a count lists the matching roles.

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Frequently asked questions

How much do software engineers earn in the space industry?

Going by the 524 distinct salaries currently posted for roles for software engineers (each put on a full-time year), the typical range is $141k–$265k/yr and the median is $160k/yr. The top posted figure is $355k/yr, at SpaceX. 366 of the 890 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 83 open roles for software engineers whose requirements we read, 54 at least a bachelor's and 29 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.

Are these jobs real?

Every role here is read from a space employer's own careers page or job board (Muon Space, Hubble Network, Outpost and Turion Space 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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