What are careers in space science?

Astrophysics Technicians, Meteorologists, and Astronauts are all careers in space science. Although these all focus on different aspects of space, they also have many differences. They all require different skills and interests to be successful. Astrophysics Technician Astrophysics technicians work on creating equipment intended for use in space. They can work in laboratories where they are often surrounded by other physicists and scientists to research and develop a common goal. For this position, it is extremely common to be required to hold a doctorate degree in astrophysics or a related field. Meteorologist Meteorologists study, collect data, examine, and evaluate the weather and climate on earth. You will need to hold at least a bachelor's degree in a related field, although many meteorologists hold master's degrees and doctorates. You can often work in laboratories and with other scientists. Astronaut To be an astronaut, you will need to have a solid understanding of space science and how outer space functions. Astronauts will need to hold a doctorate degree in a related field and often have military backgrounds. The process of becoming an astronaut is extremely competitive and having a deep passion for space is extremely important.

How To Become A Space Sciences Director: What It Is and Career Path

What is a space sciences director and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted Expert

Liliya Williams

Space sciences refers to many scientific disciplines that include astronomy, meteorology, astrophysics, and many others. A space sciences director uses their knowledge of all these branches to direct research into space. They are highly technically proficient and experienced professionals that are no strangers to complicated laboratory equipment. Throughout their career, they have demonstrated impeccable analytical, problem-solving, and math skills.

Most employers require their space sciences directors to have bachelor's degrees at the very least. American space sciences director commonly major in chemistry, biology, or physics. Because this is such a high-skill position, many of them spend more time establishing their expertise by pursuing doctorates.

The average space sciences director working in the United States earns a yearly salary of $139,000. That's more or less $67 an hour. However, top earners can make as much as $215,000. Employers like Alliance Data, The Standard, Capital One, and PayPal offer their space sciences directors highly competitive salaries of $200,000 on average.

What general advice would you give to a Space Sciences Director?

Liliya Williams

Professor, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

If a person is interested in finding out answers to questions that relate to the Universe, its origin, structure and evolution, galaxies, stars, and planets, that person would likely make a good astronomer. Basically, one has to be interested in doing research in those areas.

ScoreSpace Sciences DirectorUS Average

Salary

7.6

Avg. Salary $98,256

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

3.5

Growth Rate 8%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.71%

Asian 10.15%

Black or African American 2.75%

Hispanic or Latino 7.98%

Unknown 3.38%

White 75.03%

Gender

female 34.72%

male 65.28%

Age - 47.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 47.5

Stress Level

3.5

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

7.4

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

4.4

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a space sciences director

Explore space sciences director education requirements

Most common space sciences director degrees

Bachelor's

53.7 %

Master's

21.8 %

Doctorate

19.7 %

Start to develop specific space sciences director skills

Skills	Percentages
Data Science	25.85%
Machine Learning	20.04%
Python	12.95%
Visualization	7.36%
Mathematics	5.96%

Research space sciences director duties and responsibilities

Lead team to identify predictors of customer sales conversion and revenue per order through regression modeling.
Manage CROs activities and work collaboratively with fermentation and downstream processing groups to scale up and optimize protein production.
Used crontab to automatically execute code on AWS cloud servers and store results in SQL databases.
Perform manual/automate (QTP) testing for functional and regression testing.

Get space sciences director experience

Apply for space sciences director jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a space sciences director job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do space sciences directors rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

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1 Star

Space Sciences Director reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Nov 2023

Pros

it is fun and kind of reminds be of being a child