Integration and test
Space Jobs for Test Engineers
, SpaceJobs.Now lists 952 open roles for test engineers on 101 space industry employers, including Muon Space, Array Labs and Anduril; typical pay across them is $120k to $227k a year (median $140k), topped by $377k a year advertised at Blue Origin.
Spacecraft Integration and Test Engineer (opens the job details)
AstroForge · Systems & Test · Seal Beach, United States· 2mo agoDetails
$110,500–$172,000/yrIntegration & Test Engineering Intern (opens the job details)
AstroForge · Systems & Test · Seal Beach, United States· 3w agoDetails
$30.00/hr
Measured from 628 distinct posted rates, across 70 employers, each as a year's pay (an hourly rate × 2,080 hours). 295 of the 952 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 31 Oct 2026, 18:02 UTCListed here: AstroForge roles. See every employer
Propulsion and hot-fire test
2 openEngine and component testing on the stand: test plans, stand operations and data review.
Spacecraft Integration and Test Engineer (opens the job details)
AstroForge · Systems & Test · Seal Beach, United States· 2mo agoDetails
$110,500–$172,000/yrIntegration & Test Engineering Intern (opens the job details)
AstroForge · Systems & Test · Seal Beach, United States· 3w agoDetails
$30.00/hr
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 | 915 | $120k–$227k/yr | $377k/yr |
| Software, avionics and hardware-in-the-loop test | 3 | Too few rates | $205k/yr |
| Integration and test | 9 | $128k–$185k/yr | $190k/yr |
| Test engineers | 25 | $155k–$202k/yr | $218k/yr |
What the roles ask for
Drawn from the requirement lines of 316 out of 952 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 experience232
- Name a security clearance55
- Name u.S. person status (ITAR or EAR)36
- Require programming (Python, C++, MATLAB and similar)35
- Set a residency or work-authorization condition27
- Ask for a professional license10
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). A referral agreement, if an employer has one, can raise it in this order but never changes the salary it offers.
Test Engineer salary by employer
What each employer's own postings pay test engineers, by level and by site, with every role and its posted pay.
- Blue Origin Test Engineer salarymedian $145k/yr, 100 open roles
- Lockheed Martin Test Engineer salarymedian $137k/yr, 97 open roles
- SpaceX Test Engineer salarymedian $133k/yr, 81 open roles
- Amazon Leo Test Engineer salarymedian $160k/yr, 71 open roles
- Rocket Lab Test Engineer salarymedian $113k/yr, 40 open roles
- Northrop Grumman Test Engineer salarymedian $136k/yr, 31 open roles
- Impulse Space Test Engineer salarymedian $133k/yr, 26 open roles
- Relativity Space Test Engineer salarymedian $136k/yr, 26 open roles
- Vast Test Engineer salarymedian $154k/yr, 21 open roles
- K2 Space Test Engineer salarymedian $158k/yr, 15 open roles
- Viasat Test Engineer salarymedian $155k/yr, 14 open roles
- Muon Space Test Engineer salarymedian $196k/yr, 13 open roles
- True Anomaly Test Engineer salarymedian $149k/yr, 12 open roles
How each employer checks you
For every employer currently hiring test 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
- Thales interviews. How to apply
- Interview
- Interview
- Assessment
- Airbus interviews and role tests. How to apply
- Interview
- Interview
- Assessment
- Lockheed Martin's interviews. How to apply
- Interview
- Interview
- Assessment
- The recruiter screening and team interviews. How to apply
- Interview
- Interview
- Assessment
- No general test published. How to apply
- Interview
- None published
Where these roles are posted
The US states with the most open roles for test 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.
Students and recent graduates: 45 open space internships for test engineers.
In the US, by state
- California271
- Washington138
- Colorado137
- Texas93
- Florida42
- Alabama40
- Arizona34
- Virginia26
- Maryland18
Space industry jobs by US state
In the US, by metro area
What our research measures about systems & test work
Read from the open postings on 2026-10-30 by our space industry research, rebuilt every day. Every figure opens the row of the report it comes from.
- Who is hiring1,966 open roles (12.4% of the space roles we read) at 124 employers, 774 of them posted in the last 30 days.
- Where the jobs are1.2% of these roles are remote; the rest are on-site or hybrid.
- Who can apply61.4% of the postings are open only to US persons or US citizens, and 45.7% name a security clearance.
- Skills and toolsThe skills its postings name most: Python (40%), MATLAB (21%) and C or C++ (15%).
- Degrees and experience1.9% of the postings take a high school diploma or an associate's degree, 35.4% name a master's or PhD, and they ask for a median of 5 years of experience at the least.
- Pay transparency65.3% of the postings state their pay, at a median $150,000 a year.
- Internships and entry level121 open roles are for someone starting out (6.2% of its open roles).
- Shifts, weekends and travel11.0% of the postings ask for weekend work, 14.5% for overtime or extended hours, and 2.0% name an evening, night or rotating shift.
- What applications askThe application forms for this work ask your citizenship or U.S. person status (78.6% of them), about a security clearance (41.4% of them), your GPA (16.8% of them), SAT, ACT or GRE scores (14.7% of them), your salary expectations (30.0% of them) and whether you have worked or interviewed at the company before (30.6% of them).
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Frequently asked questions
How much do test engineers earn in the space industry?
Going by the 628 distinct salaries currently posted for roles for test engineers (each put on a full-time year), the typical range is $120k–$227k/yr and the median is $140k/yr. The top posted figure is $377k/yr, at Blue Origin. 295 of the 952 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 316 open roles for test engineers whose requirements we read, 6 a master's, 284 at least a bachelor's and 26 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. Of the employers hiring test engineers now, none publishes a recorded interview or an ID check in the guides we hold. 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.
Which space companies pay test engineers the most?
Of the 13 employers whose postings for test engineers state enough pay for a figure, the highest medians are Muon Space ($196k/yr), Amazon Leo ($160k/yr) and K2 Space ($158k/yr). A median is of what each employer's open roles post today, by the same formula for every employer.
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Systems, Integration & Test
Every open systems & test role across space employers, with live pay.