How To Become A Spacecraft Systems Engineer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a spacecraft systems engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Spacecraft systems engineers help design and build spacecraft. They play a crucial role in furthering space exploration. Spacecraft systems engineers can work for government agencies such as NASA, defense contractors, or private companies exploring space exploration such as Momentus. They analyze relevant data and use it to design new systems using tools like Matlab. They use their engineering skills to develop networks and design test scripts in order to test that systems are working. On the launch day, a spacecraft systems engineer is often on hand to provide engineering support. In addition to their extensive engineering skills, they need to be able to work under tight deadlines and high pressure.

Spacecraft systems engineers need to be highly experienced in order to do their jobs. A mistake could compromise national security or kill any astronauts on board. Most spacecraft systems engineers have bachelor's or even master's degrees in aerospace engineering and many years of experience in engineering.

For many spacecraft systems engineers, the long years of hard work are worth it. In addition to helping humanity explore the final frontier, they earn an average annual salary of $93,929.

ScoreSpacecraft Systems EngineerUS Average

Salary

7.5

Avg. Salary $96,404

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.4

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.30%

Asian 10.93%

Black or African American 4.20%

Hispanic or Latino 11.17%

Unknown 4.45%

White 68.94%

Gender

female 9.68%

male 90.32%

Age - 43

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 - 43

Stress level

5.4

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.0

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.7

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a spacecraft systems engineer

Explore spacecraft systems engineer education requirements

Most common spacecraft systems engineer degrees

Bachelor's

75.4 %

Master's

16.9 %

Doctorate

3.1 %

Start to develop specific spacecraft systems engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
Systems Engineering	20.70%
MATLAB	17.76%
Spacecraft Systems	10.60%
Trade Studies	6.65%
RF	6.43%

Complete relevant spacecraft systems engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New spacecraft systems engineers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a spacecraft systems engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real spacecraft systems engineer resumes.

Research spacecraft systems engineer duties and responsibilities

Manage security, which includes monitoring and controlling database access, assigning permissions to application owners.
Develop automated format report generation for controls analysis perform using ADSIM and MATLAB.
Monitor OS optimization; test, evaluate product processing and accuracy performance within environment before operational implementation are performed with SCCM.
Develop requirements and specifications for the provisioning commands that configure linear automatic protection switching in optical switches and cross-connects.

Apply for spacecraft systems engineer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a spacecraft systems engineer 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

What is a spacecraft systems engineer and how to become one

Spacecraft systems engineer career paths