Entry-level space work
Space Jobs With No Experience
Measured from 631 distinct posted rates, across 57 employers, each as a year's pay (an hourly rate × 2,080 hours). 921 of the 1,591 listings open here post no pay at all.
These space industry roles say in their title that they are for someone starting out: internships and co-ops, apprenticeships and trainee roles, new graduate and entry-level roles, and the first level of a technician's or an engineer's ladder. Roles that ask for experience but no degree are on the space jobs without a degree page. 1,591 are open right now on 95 employers, including Muon Space, Anduril and Cowboy Space. We pull them straight from the employers' careers sites every hour.
The work you can start without experience
Each discipline below has at least one starter vacancy open, ordered by how many. Click a count to list those vacancies, or a pay figure to see the postings behind it.
Build the hardware with your hands and run the lines that make it: assembly, integration and test technicians, machinists and CNC programmers, welders, composites and additive manufacturing, electrical and harness technicians, and the manufacturing engineers who design the process.
Build the software on the ground: mission and ground-segment software, data platforms, web and backend engineering, cloud and DevOps, IT and cybersecurity, and the factory and business systems a space company runs on.
Tie the vehicle together and prove it works: systems engineering and architecture, requirements and verification, assembly, integration and test (AI&T), environmental testing in thermal vacuum and vibration, and test engineering for whole vehicles and their subsystems.
Design and analyze the physical vehicle: primary structures and tanks, mechanisms and deployables, thermal control, materials and processes, loads and stress analysis, aerodynamics and reentry, and the ground support equipment that fuels and handles a vehicle on the pad.
Run the company and its missions: program and project management, scheduling and program control, business development and sales of launches, satellites and data, finance and accounting, contracts, legal and export control, people and recruiting, and communications.
Write the software that flies the vehicle and steer it: flight and embedded software, firmware, guidance, navigation and control, flight dynamics and orbit determination, and the autonomy that lets a spacecraft rendezvous, land or reenter on its own.
Build the electrical heart of a rocket or satellite: flight computers and avionics boxes, power systems and batteries, harnesses, circuit boards, FPGAs and ASICs, and the electronics that must survive launch loads, vacuum and radiation.
Turn what spacecraft see into knowledge: remote sensing and Earth observation, synthetic aperture radar and optical imaging, geospatial and intelligence analysis, data science and machine learning on satellite data, and the scientists who design missions and instruments.
Make spacecraft talk and sense: RF and antenna design, phased arrays, signal processing and modems, optical and laser communication terminals, and the payloads a satellite carries, from broadband and direct-to-phone links to radar and imaging instruments.
Make sure the hardware is right before it flies: quality engineering and inspection, mission and product assurance, reliability, nondestructive testing, supplier quality, and environment, health and safety on sites that handle propellants and high-energy systems.
Keep the factory and the launch site supplied and running: procurement and buying, supplier management, planning and inventory, logistics, shipping and receiving, warehouses, and the facilities, maintenance and site security of plants, test sites and launch pads.
Design, build and test the engines that move rockets and spacecraft: liquid rocket engines and their turbomachinery, combustion devices and injectors, solid rocket motors, in-space thrusters and electric propulsion, and the fluids and cryogenic systems that feed them.
Get vehicles off the ground and keep them flying: launch site and pad operations, launch control and range, recovery of reusable stages, mission operations and flight control, satellite and constellation operations, and ground station operations around the clock.
A typical pay band (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) appears only once 3 or more distinct rates are published.
Employers hiring people starting out
The employers with open entry-level roles, with the pay those roles state. 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.
Entry-level space jobs by state and metro area
- California378
- The Los Angeles area272
- Colorado154
- The Denver area113
- Texas83
- Washington83
- The San Francisco area59
- The Washington, DC area52
- Virginia43
- Florida35
- Alabama28
- The San Jose area27
- The Boulder area20
- Maryland20
- The Houston area20
- Pennsylvania19
- The Austin area19
- The Philadelphia area18
- The Huntsville area17
- Arizona17
- The Colorado Springs area16
- The Brownsville area13
- The Decatur, AL area11
- Mississippi11
- New Mexico11
- Utah11
Starter vacancies that post no pay
Updated 1 Nov 2026, 20:02 UTC921 roles, page 16 of 19


STAGE – Ingénieur Antennes pour Télécommunications Spatiales – F/H (opens the job details)
Thales Alenia Space · RF & Payloads · Toulouse, Haute-Garonne, France· 5d agoDetails


Electrical Engineering Intern Summer 2027 (opens the job details)
Rocket Lab · Avionics · Toronto, CAN· 1mo agoDetails

Vehicle Integration & Test Internship - Summer 2027 (opens the job details)
Varda Space Industries · Systems & Test · El Segundo, California, United States· 1mo agoDetails

Internship - Systems Engineering - Spring 2027 (opens the job details)
Firefly Aerospace · Systems & Test · Briggs, TX, United States of America· 4d agoDetails



Space Nuclear Propulsion Materials Test & Evaluation Intern (opens the job details)
Amentum · Mechanical · Huntsville, AL, United States· 2w agoDetails

Thales Alenia Space · Quality · Toulouse, Haute-Garonne, France· 1w agoDetails



Manufacturing Engineer I - Early Career (2026 Starts) (opens the job details)
Blue Origin · Technicians · Space Coast, FL, United States of America· 2mo agoDetails

Systems Engineer, Jr. (opens the job details)
KBR · Systems & Test · Chantilly, Virginia, United States· 5mo agoDetails

12 months internship - Propulsion Test Engineer (m/f/d) (opens the job details)
Isar Aerospace · Propulsion · Kiruna, Norrbotten, Sweden· 3w agoDetails








Internship - Electrical Engineering - Spring 2027 (opens the job details)
Firefly Aerospace · Avionics · Cedar Park, TX, United States· 1w agoDetails

Mechanical Technician I (opens the job details)
Rocket Lab · Technicians · Toronto, CAN· 2w agoDetails

Junior Mechanical Engineer - Jig Design and Tooling (opens the job details)
AST SpaceMobile · Mechanical · Barcelona, Spain· 1w agoDetails

Summer 2027 Marine Mechanical & Test Engineering Internship - Undergraduate (opens the job details)
Blue Origin · Mechanical · Space Coast, FL, United States· 3d agoDetails




Weld Engineering Internship - Summer 2027 (opens the job details)
United Launch Alliance · Technicians · Decatur, AL, United States· 2d agoDetails

ArianeGroup · Quality · Saint-Médard-en-Jalles - Centre· 1w agoDetails


Internship - Ground Support Equipment - Spring 2027 (opens the job details)
Firefly Aerospace · Mechanical · Briggs, TX, United States of America· 1w agoDetails

Stage – Industrialisation et Evaluation de la maturité des produits – (H/F) (opens the job details)
Thales Alenia Space · Technicians · Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes, France· 5d agoDetails


Duales Studium Allgemeiner Maschinenbau - Bachelor of Engineering (m/w/d) (opens the job details)
ArianeGroup · Mechanical · Lampoldshausen, Germany· 2mo agoDetails


STAGE - Ingénieure / Ingénieur en gestion de production (opens the job details)
ArianeGroup · Technicians · Saint-Médard-en-Jalles - Candale· 1w agoDetails

Test Engineer I (TX) - Early Career (2026 Starts) (opens the job details)
Blue Origin · Systems & Test · Van Horn, TX, United States· 2mo agoDetails

Structural Analyst, Early Career (ES2) (opens the job details)
Amentum · Mechanical · Huntsville, AL, United States· 2w agoDetails

STAGE – Ingénieure / Ingénieur en Gestion de Production (opens the job details)
ArianeGroup · Technicians · Saint-Médard-en-Jalles - Issac· 1w agoDetails

Thales Alenia Space · Technicians · Toulouse, Haute-Garonne, France· 2d agoDetails

Manufacturing and Test Engineering Intern (Summer 2027) (opens the job details)
Rendezvous Robotics · Technicians · Golden, CO, United States· 3d agoDetails

Test Engineer I - Early Career (2026 Starts) (opens the job details)
Blue Origin · Systems & Test · Space Coast, FL, United States of America· 3mo agoDetails

STAGE - Ingénieur conception électronique de puissance – Evaluation GaN– F/H (opens the job details)
Thales Alenia Space · Avionics · Toulouse, Haute-Garonne, France· 1w agoDetails

RF Engineer - Summer Internship 2027 (opens the job details)
Inversion Space · RF & Payloads · Playa Vista, California, United States· 2w agoDetails


Thales Alenia Space · RF & Payloads · Toulouse, Haute-Garonne, France· 3d agoDetails

Systems Test Engineer 1 (opens the job details)
United Launch Alliance · Systems & Test · Decatur, AL, United States· 2d agoDetails

Before you apply
- No fees, ever. A real employer never charges you to apply, to interview or to start work. Anyone asking for money for training, equipment or a placement is not hiring you.
- Entry level is not no requirements. Internships and co-ops usually ask that you are enrolled in a degree, and entry-level engineering roles usually ask for the degree itself; technician and trade roles often ask for hands-on training or a certificate. Each posting says what it asks.
- Check who may apply. Many US space roles, internships included, are open only to a U.S. person under export-control rules (ITAR and EAR). Read each posting for the country, the citizenship and the site it asks for.
- Experienced roles pay more. Starter vacancies currently pay a median of $70k/yr against $145k/yr for every open role that states its pay.
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Frequently asked questions
Can you get a job in the space industry with no experience?
Yes. 1,591 open space industry roles say in their title that they are for someone starting out right now (that is 9% of all 18,263 vacancies we list), at 95 employers: internships, co-ops, apprenticeships, new graduate, entry-level and first-level roles. A title is a signal, not a promise: an internship usually asks that you are enrolled in a degree and an entry-level engineering role usually asks for the degree itself, so read each posting before you apply.
What is the pay for an entry-level job in the space industry?
Across 57 employers and 631 distinct published rates, starter roles sit at $60.3k–$136k/yr (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), and the current median is $70k/yr. Experienced roles pay more: every open role on the board that states its pay has a live median of $145k/yr.
What kinds of space jobs can you start without experience?
The most entry-level roles are in Manufacturing & Technicians (191), Ground Software & IT (190), Systems, Integration & Test (184), Mechanical, Structures & Thermal (182). Every kind of work lists its open roles and what they pay.
Which space companies hire people starting out?
European Space Agency (ESA) (169), ArianeGroup (131), Thales Alenia Space (121), Rocket Lab (112), Blue Origin (80) list the most entry-level roles today, of 95 employers with at least one.
Do I need to be a U.S. citizen for an entry-level space job?
For many US roles, yes or close to it: work on rockets, spacecraft and their technical data falls under US export-control rules (ITAR and EAR), so many US space postings, internships included, state that they are open only to a U.S. person (a citizen, a permanent resident or a protected individual). Each posting says what it requires, and the country pages list the roles open in each country.
Do you have to pay to apply for a space job?
No. A real employer never charges you to apply, to interview or to start work. Anyone asking for money for training, equipment or a placement is not hiring you.
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