Integration and test
Space Jobs for Test Engineers
, SpaceJobs.Now lists 425 open roles for test engineers on 35 space industry employers, including Muon Space, Hubble Network and Inversion Space; typical pay across them is $109k to $200k a year (median $130k), topped by $265k a year advertised at SpaceX.
Structural Engineer III - Ground System Test Infrastructure (opens the job details)
Blue Origin · Mechanical · Greater Seattle Area· todayDetails
Senior Electro-Mechanical Test Engineer (opens the job details)
K2 Space · Systems & Test · Los Angeles, CA· 1mo agoDetails
$140,000–$175,000/yr
Measured from 212 distinct posted rates, across 23 employers, each as a year's pay (an hourly rate × 2,080 hours). 213 of the 425 listings open here post no pay at all.
Space companies hire test engineers to prove hardware before it flies: on engine test stands, in thermal vacuum chambers and on the integration floor. Each listing here is re-verified on the employer's own job board once an hour.
Live roles for test engineers
Updated 29 Oct 2026, 21:01 UTCShowing the 2 roles that ask for a professional license, every country. See every role
Propulsion and hot-fire test
2 openEngine and component testing on the stand: test plans, stand operations and data review.
Structural Engineer III - Ground System Test Infrastructure (opens the job details)
Blue Origin · Mechanical · Greater Seattle Area· todayDetails
Senior Electro-Mechanical Test Engineer (opens the job details)
K2 Space · Systems & Test · Los Angeles, CA· 1mo agoDetails
$140,000–$175,000/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
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.
| Specialty | Open roles | Typical pay | Highest rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Propulsion and hot-fire test | 423 | $109k–$200k/yr | $265k/yr |
| Integration and test | 1 | Too few rates | Not stated |
| Test engineers | 1 | Too few rates | $218k/yr |
What the roles ask for
Drawn from the requirement lines of 154 out of 425 open roles for test 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 experience126
- Require programming (Python, C++, MATLAB and similar)25
- Name u.S. person status (ITAR or EAR)16
- Name a security clearance11
- Set a residency or work-authorization condition9
- Ask for a professional license2
Where a posting states years of experience, the median ask is 5 years.
Who hires test engineers in the space industry
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 test engineers earn in the space industry?
Going by the 212 distinct salaries currently posted for roles for test engineers (each put on a full-time year), the typical range is $109k–$200k/yr and the median is $130k/yr. The top posted figure is $265k/yr, at SpaceX. 213 of the 425 open roles for test engineers state no pay, so check each listing.
What do test roles ask for?
Usually an engineering degree and hands-on test experience, with the data and automation tools the role names. Every posting spells out its exact requirements and work site, so read each one. Of the 154 open roles for test engineers whose requirements we read, 5 a master's, 134 at least a bachelor's and 15 name no degree.
What does a test engineer do at a space company?
A test engineer at a space company plans and runs the tests that prove hardware works: writing procedures, building test setups, running the test and reading the data, from a single valve to an engine on the stand or a whole satellite in a vacuum chamber.
How do space companies hire test 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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