Open Orbit #1
Newsletter · October 13, 2026
Welcome to Open Orbit, your weekly space industry trends report from outerspacejobs.com.
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We've scoured the internet this week and found 1,180 new job posts in the space industry.
In this issue:
- Newest space jobs.
- Highest paying jobs in the space industry.
- Which space companies are hiring the most.
- Upcoming launches and space phenomena.
Newest jobs
Intern- Office & Site Management
Oct 13, 2026
Group Supervisor I/II - Mechatronics (352C)
Clearance Oct 13, 2026
Program Operations & Cost Account Manager
Clearance Oct 13, 2026
Avionics Engineer
Oct 13, 2026
Recruiting Coordinator (Starbase) - Temporary
Oct 13, 2026
Senior Computer Vision Engineer
Remote Oct 13, 2026Highest paying jobs
These are the best paying jobs in the space industry with a publicly listed salary posted within the last week. If a salary range is given we take the top of the range. All currencies are converted to their approximate USD value for comparison.
Business Development Director, Commercial
Oct 12, 2026
Senior Director, Business Development - Civil & Commercial
Oct 1, 2026
Director, IC Business Development
Aug 8, 2026
Senior Director, Optical Communication - TeraWave
Sep 11, 2026 Maintenance Technician 2nd Shift
Sep 2, 2026
SVP, Government Affairs
Remote Clearance Jun 9, 2026This week in space industry hiring trends
Who's hiring in the space industry, which job titles are in the most demand, and where's the action?
Which employers posted the most new jobs?
- SpaceX 136
- GE Aerospace 135
- Blue Origin 112
- The Aerospace Corporation 76
- Rocket Lab 72
- Boeing 54
Which employers took down the most job posts?
If a company removes jobs, that usually but not always means the job was filled.
- Quantum Space 18
- SpaceX 14
- Blue Origin 13
- Dcubed 13
- GE Aerospace 13
- Varda Space Industries 11
Which job titles are companies hiring for the most?
- Systems Engineer 134
- Technician 89
- Software Engineer 60
- Operations 60
- Design 54
- Manufacturing 51
States with the most new jobs
- California 348
- Colorado 155
- Florida 82
- Texas 72
- Virginia 68
- Ohio 33
- Alabama 27
- Washington 26
- Arizona 19
- Massachusetts 11
Countries with the most new jobs
- 🇺🇸United States 953
- 🇩🇪Germany 30
- 🇮🇳India 23
- 🇬🇧United Kingdom 18
- 🇳🇿New Zealand 14
- 🇳🇱Netherlands 12
- 🇨🇦Canada 12
- 🇫🇷France 10
- 🇮🇹Italy 9
- 🇫🇮Finland 8
- 🇪🇸Spain 8
Look up!
Upcoming launches, space missions, and astrological phenomena worth looking up for.
- Oct. 14
🚀 A Zhuque-2E launches from Jiuquan
Liftoff is 7:40 a.m. EDT. The payload is not public.
- Oct. 15
🚀 A Space Force mission, USSF-481, launches on a Falcon 9
Evening liftoff, 7:44 p.m. EDT, from Vandenberg. The payload is not public.
- Oct. 19
🛰️ Japan launches a mission to the moons of Mars
JAXA’s MMX spacecraft lifts off on an H3 from Tanegashima at 3:41 p.m. EDT (4:41 a.m. Oct. 20 in Japan). It is due at Mars in August 2027, with a Phobos sample aimed for Earth in 2031.
- Oct. 21–22
✨ The Orionid meteor shower peaks
Debris from Halley’s Comet. A bright Moon will hide the fainter ones. The better window is the last few hours before dawn, after the Moon sets.
- Oct. 24
✨ Venus passes between Earth and the Sun
It slips out of the evening sky and returns as a morning star in the weeks after.
- Oct. 26
✨ Full Moon, the Hunter’s Moon
Peak illumination is 12:11 a.m. EDT.
- Oct. 27–28
✨ The Moon passes the Pleiades
Look east in the evening. The Seven Sisters are a small misty cluster beside the Moon. Binoculars show more of them. From some places the Moon covers part of the cluster.
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