The Space Economy Workforce and the Jobs Behind the New Space Economy

Key Takeaways

• Space work now spans software, production, operations, sales, research, and skilled trades.
• STEM jobs dominate the measured space workforce, but non-STEM roles remain substantial.
• Better workforce data will shape hiring, training, procurement, and regional development.

The Space Economy Workforce Has Moved Beyond the Old Aerospace Stereotype

The BEA working paper The Space Economy Workforce and STEM Occupations, published in September 2025, reports that the U.S. space economy employed more than 373,000 private-sector workers in 2023 and that space-related work reached across software, telecommunications, advanced manufacturing, research, wholesale distribution, education, government services, professional services, construction, and technical operations. That finding matters because it pushes the discussion beyond the familiar image of a workforce dominated by astronauts, physicists, and aerospace engineers.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis measured the U.S. space economy at $142.5 billion in gross domestic product in 2023, equal to 0.5% of total U.S. gross domestic product, with $240.9 billion in gross output. The agency’s March 2025 release covered 2012 through 2023, and the same BEA space economy page stated in March 2026 that the agency would no longer regularly produce those statistics.

The working paper’s central finding is straightforward: 56% of measured private-sector space economy occupations in 2022 were science, technology, engineering, and mathematics jobs. That was more than double the share of STEM occupations in the overall U.S. workforce reported in the National Science Board’s 2026 STEM labor force analysis. Software developers represented the single largest detailed occupation in the measured space workforce, followed by electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, then sales representatives of services.

The phrase space economy can sound abstract, but the workforce behind it is concrete. It includes employees who design spacecraft, write flight software, assemble electronics, sell communications services, manage supply chains, service ground systems, operate data infrastructure, install equipment, test components, manage programs, and process business transactions. A satellite broadband subscriber, an Earth observation analytics customer, a navigation receiver manufacturer, a launch operator, and a university astrophysics program can all connect to space economy labor through different commercial channels.

The workforce is also measured imperfectly. The BEA method combines space economy industry data with occupational employment data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and STEM classifications from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. That method provides a structured estimate, but it relies on assumptions about how space-related output maps to workers inside broad industry categories. The result is a better public picture than simple company counts, yet it still leaves gaps in government employment, defense-related labor, contractor teams, startup workforces, and detailed occupation-level specialization.

How BEA Measures the Space Economy Workforce

The BEA method starts from the agency’s definition of the space economy, which covers space-related goods and services that are used or produced in space, directly support goods and services used or produced in space, require direct input from space to function, directly support those that require space input, or relate to the study of space. That definition includes launch services, spacecraft, satellites, telecommunications, broadcasting, software, navigation and timing equipment, research and development, engineering services, observatories, planetariums, satellite dish installation, and other related activities.

The methodology connects three statistical systems. BEA space economy accounts identify which industries produce space-related output. The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program identifies occupations within industries. The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics classifies occupations into science and engineering, science and engineering-related, STEM middle-skill, and non-STEM categories. The combined method estimates the occupational mix of the space economy for 2017 and 2022.

Industry “weight” and industry “share” measure different things. Industry weight refers to how much of the total space economy comes from a given industry. Industry share refers to how much of that industry’s own output is space-related. Wholesale trade, for example, has high weight in the space economy because it handles margins tied to space-related products, but the space-related share of total wholesale trade output is small. Communications equipment manufacturing has a much higher space-related share, but it is one industry within a broader industrial mix.

The main assumption is that an industry’s space-related output share can be used to estimate that industry’s space-related employment share. If 10% of a given industry’s output is space-related, the method assigns 10% of each occupation in that industry to the space workforce. This assumption creates a transparent estimate, but it may undercount occupations that are more concentrated in space activity and overcount occupations that are less connected to space work. Aerospace engineers inside aerospace product and parts manufacturing, for example, may have a higher space-related concentration than the average worker in that industry.

The following table summarizes the main occupational categories used in the BEA method.

The result is a workforce picture that is more balanced than many public narratives. Engineering remains essential, but it is not the whole story. Software, production, skilled technical work, management, sales, purchasing, installation, maintenance, and administrative support all appear as measurable parts of space economy employment. The sector looks less like one narrow technical profession and more like a specialized version of a mature industrial economy.

Software, Production, and Technical Trades Define the Occupational Mix

Software developers were the largest detailed occupation in the BEA paper’s 2022 results, representing 4.8% of measured space employment after excluding wholesale trade. That result fits the structure of the modern space business. Satellites are networked computers in orbit. Ground stations depend on software-defined radio, automation, cybersecurity, cloud interfaces, scheduling tools, and data processing. Earth observation companies sell imagery and analytics. Satellite communications companies manage customer service platforms, network routing, billing systems, and reliability monitoring.

The broader labor market supports the same direction. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment of software developers, quality assurance analysts, and testers to grow 15% from 2024 to 2034, much faster than the 3% average for all occupations. BLS also reported a May 2024 median annual wage of $133,080 for software developers. Space employers compete for this talent against artificial intelligence, finance, cybersecurity, automotive software, cloud computing, health technology, defense contractors, and consumer electronics.

Production occupations were the largest major occupation group in the BEA paper, representing 14.2% of the measured 2022 space workforce after excluding wholesale trade. Architecture and engineering occupations followed at 12.7%, and computer and mathematical occupations accounted for 12.0%. These figures show that the space economy is a manufacturing and operations economy as much as a design economy. Satellites, antennas, payloads, propulsion systems, test fixtures, harnesses, ground terminals, and launch vehicle components still need people who can build, inspect, test, repair, and document physical hardware.

Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers were the second-largest detailed occupation in the BEA paper’s 2022 results. That category points to a quiet workforce reality: space hardware may be associated with advanced engineering, but repeatable production quality often depends on skilled technicians and assemblers. These workers translate designs into flight articles, test units, ground equipment, and production systems. Their work connects directly to manufacturing yield, schedule reliability, component traceability, and mission assurance.

Aerospace engineers remain part of the workforce, but the BEA paper reports that they accounted for 1.1% of measured space employment in 2022, compared with 2.0% for industrial engineers and 1.5% for mechanical engineers. BLS describes aerospace engineers as workers who design, develop, and test aircraft, spacecraft, satellites, and missiles, but it also projects 6% growth for the occupation from 2024 to 2034. Industrial engineers show a stronger projected 11% growth rate, reflecting demand for production systems, efficiency, quality control, and logistics across manufacturing sectors.

This occupational mix changes the skills conversation. A space workforce strategy cannot focus only on aerospace engineering degrees. It must include computer science, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, cybersecurity, systems engineering, radio-frequency engineering, data science, quality assurance, machining, electronics assembly, cable and harness work, avionics, procurement, export control compliance, program management, and field service. Many of those fields exist outside traditional space education pipelines.

Industry Data Shows Why Space Hiring Looks Different From Space Branding

The BEA paper identifies a small number of industries that account for most U.S. private-sector space economy gross output. Four industries accounted for about 75% of the space economy in 2022: wholesale trade, telecommunications, aerospace product and parts manufacturing, and communications equipment manufacturing. Four more industries brought the cumulative share to about 92%: scientific research and development services, navigational and control instruments manufacturing, broadcasting, and colleges and universities.

This distribution helps explain why hiring needs differ from the public image of space companies. A launch company needs propulsion engineers, technicians, welders, test engineers, software developers, safety specialists, finance staff, and logistics workers. A satellite communications company needs network engineers, spectrum specialists, customer support staff, sales teams, software developers, ground infrastructure technicians, and regulatory specialists. An Earth observation company may employ remote sensing scientists, data engineers, machine learning specialists, product managers, sales staff, and customer success teams.

Space-related output also appears in industries with low space intensity. Wholesale trade has high weight in the BEA space economy but only 1% to 3% of its own output counted as space-related in 2022. That means workers can contribute to the space economy inside firms and industries that would not identify primarily as space companies. The same principle applies to retail channels for navigation devices, distribution margins on satellite equipment, software services, construction work for space facilities, insurance, education, and data hosting.

The following table translates the BEA paper’s industry findings into workforce implications.

A workforce strategy based on company branding would miss this distribution. A workforce strategy based on industry accounts and occupations sees a deeper labor system. It includes space specialists, adjacent-industry workers, skilled technical employees, commercial support staff, and government-funded research teams. It also includes employees who may never work on a spacecraft directly but still enable space products to reach customers.

STEM Intensity Does Not Eliminate Commercial and Administrative Work

The BEA paper’s 56% STEM share for the 2022 measured space workforce confirms that the sector is technically intensive. The science and engineering group accounted for 25% of workers, science and engineering-related occupations accounted for 10%, and STEM middle-skill occupations accounted for 22%. Non-STEM occupations accounted for 44%, which is too large to treat as peripheral.

The national STEM labor market has also expanded. The National Science Board reported in February 2026 that the U.S. STEM workforce reached 36 million workers in 2023, representing 25% of the total U.S. workforce, and that STEM employment grew by 26% between 2013 and 2023 compared with 9% growth for non-STEM employment. The same source projects 6% growth for STEM occupations between 2024 and 2034, compared with 3% for total employment.

The space workforce is more STEM-intensive than the national workforce, but it still depends on many roles that do not fit STEM labels. The BEA paper lists sales representatives of services as the third-largest detailed occupation in the measured space workforce. General and operations managers, customer service representatives, business operations specialists, project management specialists, purchasing agents, administrative assistants, office clerks, accountants, auditors, and shipping clerks also appear in the top non-STEM occupation list.

These roles matter because commercial space companies do not earn revenue through technology alone. They need sales contracts, customer onboarding, service-level agreements, export control screening, procurement processes, financial controls, insurance arrangements, compliance management, warehouse operations, shipping documentation, human resources, and investor communication. In satellite communications and Earth observation, commercial adoption often depends on customer-facing labor as much as technical performance.

Management occupations also cross STEM boundaries. Computer and information systems managers, architectural and engineering managers, and natural sciences managers are grouped as science and engineering-related in the BEA paper. General and operations managers are non-STEM. The difference reflects classification rather than business value. A satellite operator needs technical managers to make engineering decisions, but it also needs operating managers who can run service delivery, staffing, maintenance, billing, supplier coordination, and customer commitments.

Middle-skill STEM occupations deserve special attention because they affect production capacity. Technicians, assemblers, installers, repair workers, machinists, line installers, and computer numerically controlled tool operators form the bridge between design and delivery. If these occupations face shortages, new contracts can turn into schedule delays. If training pipelines improve, companies can scale output without depending only on degree-based recruiting.

Defense and Security Demand Adds Specialized Workforce Requirements

Defense and security users are major buyers of space capabilities. They rely on satellite communications, positioning, navigation and timing, missile warning, weather data, surveillance support, launch access, space domain awareness, and resilient ground infrastructure. This demand affects workforce planning because defense programs often require cleared personnel, classified work environments, secure software development, strict supply-chain controls, formal quality systems, and long procurement cycles.

The BLS page for aerospace engineers states that engineers working on national defense-related projects may need a security clearance. That single labor-market detail has large consequences. Clearance requirements can narrow the available hiring pool, slow onboarding, reduce worker mobility, and make experienced systems engineers, software developers, cybersecurity staff, program managers, and test personnel harder to replace.

Space workforce planning also connects to cybersecurity. Space systems increasingly connect spacecraft, ground stations, cloud platforms, user terminals, data networks, and customer portals. Software developers, network engineers, cybersecurity analysts, system administrators, and quality assurance testers all contribute to resilience. The BLS software occupation page links future developer demand partly to artificial intelligence, connected devices, robotics, automation, and network security investment, all of which overlap with space system operations and ground data services.

Government procurement shapes workforce demand in ways that differ from pure commercial markets. A company serving defense and civil agency customers may need proposal writers, cost analysts, contract managers, compliance specialists, export control professionals, cybersecurity compliance staff, and quality assurance teams before it can scale technical work. These workers do not always appear in popular space narratives, but they affect whether companies can win, execute, and retain government contracts.

The BEA paper excludes government from the main occupation-level private-sector workforce estimate and notes that the exclusion leaves an incomplete picture. It also mentions that BEA’s experimental non-defense government estimate included 19,686 space-related non-defense government employees in 2022, with more than 16,000 coming from NASA. If many of those NASA workers are STEM workers, the private-sector estimate may understate the STEM intensity of the total U.S. space workforce.

Defense and security demand can also intensify competition with adjacent sectors. A software developer with cybersecurity experience may be recruited by cloud providers, defense primes, space startups, financial firms, or government contractors. A radio-frequency engineer may find work in wireless communications, radar, defense electronics, satellite payloads, or spectrum management. An industrial engineer may be needed by aircraft manufacturers, space hardware producers, automotive firms, semiconductor plants, and logistics companies.

Global Workforce Data Uses Different Definitions

National space workforce numbers are not directly comparable because countries define their space sectors differently. Some count only upstream manufacturing and launch activity. Some include downstream services such as satellite broadcasting, navigation services, and applications. Some include university research, government agencies, and supply-chain effects. Some measure employees, others use full-time equivalents. These differences can change totals even when the underlying sector is similar.

The United Kingdom’s Size and Health of the UK Space Industry 2024 report, published in July 2025 and updated in August 2025, reported 55,549 direct full-time-equivalent employees in the UK space industry in 2022/23. The report also stated that UK space industry activity supported an estimated 81,364 additional UK jobs through indirect and induced effects.

Canada’s State of the Canadian Space Sector Report 2024, published in November 2025, reported 13,888 direct space-sector jobs in 2023, with 70% of those jobs classified as STEM-related. The Canadian Space Agency also reported that the sector supported 26,480 total jobs through direct, indirect, and induced impacts on the Canadian economy in 2023.

European upstream industry data points in the same direction, although the measurement scope is narrower. Eurospace reported in July 2025 that employment in the European space industry reached about 66,000 full-time-equivalent employees in 2024, with final sales rebounding to €8.8 billion. This is not a total European space economy figure because it focuses on industrial activities related to the design, development, and manufacturing of space systems rather than every downstream application.

These figures support a global interpretation. Space economies need more than aerospace engineers. They need software and data talent, technicians, assembly workers, systems engineers, manufacturing specialists, quality inspectors, ground operations staff, telecommunications specialists, business operations staff, and commercial teams. Countries that define workforce development only through university aerospace programs risk underinvesting in skilled trades, technician credentials, software pathways, and mid-career reskilling.

Workforce Bottlenecks Will Shape Commercial Growth

The space economy workforce is affected by three labor-market pressures at once. The first is growth in space demand. More satellites, more ground infrastructure, more data products, more launch activity, more lunar programs, more defense and security demand, and more commercial adoption all add labor needs. The second is competition from adjacent industries. Software, electronics, industrial engineering, cybersecurity, and advanced manufacturing workers can move between space and other sectors. The third is the need for reliability. Space products must meet demanding quality, safety, and performance requirements, which limits how quickly new employees can become fully productive.

The BEA paper’s most useful contribution is that it exposes hidden labor categories. If policymakers see the workforce only as astronauts and aerospace engineers, they may fund too narrow a pipeline. If companies see it only as engineering talent, they may underinvest in technician training, production supervision, documentation, supply-chain management, and customer support. If educators see it only as a university degree problem, they may miss community colleges, apprenticeships, certificate programs, military-to-industry pathways, and employer-led upskilling.

A workable strategy starts with occupational clarity. Employers need to specify which roles are hard to fill and why. The cause may be compensation, location, clearance requirements, citizenship restrictions, hands-on experience, security rules, outdated job descriptions, limited internship capacity, or a weak local training pipeline. A broad claim about a space workforce shortage is less useful than identifying shortages in test engineers, harness technicians, mission operations staff, software assurance specialists, radio-frequency engineers, procurement staff, or quality inspectors.

Training institutions need more direct signals from employers. Community colleges can support electronics assembly, machining, quality inspection, mechatronics, and computer networking. Universities can support aerospace, mechanical, electrical, industrial, and computer engineering. Boot camps and certificate programs can support software testing, cybersecurity, cloud operations, data analysis, and geographic information systems. Employers need internships, co-ops, apprenticeships, and supervised entry-level roles that convert classroom learning into space-specific competence.

Space workforce initiatives are already moving in this direction. Space Workforce for Tomorrow describes its work as building a workforce that supports innovation, space economy growth, and U.S. leadership in a contested strategic domain. The initiative’s emphasis on preparation and employment reflects a broader shift away from inspiration-only outreach toward talent systems that connect students, early-career workers, career switchers, veterans, educators, and employers.

A mature space workforce strategy should measure outcomes. Useful metrics include time to fill high-demand roles, retention by occupation, training completion rates, conversion from internships to employment, share of employees with technician credentials, share of production roles with cross-training, geographic distribution of talent, security clearance wait times, and the number of workers who move from adjacent sectors into space roles. Better metrics would turn workforce discussion into management data.

Summary

The space economy workforce is larger, broader, and less stereotypical than the old public image of the space sector. The September 2025 BEA working paper shows that software developers, assemblers, sales representatives, industrial engineers, technicians, managers, business operations specialists, repair workers, and administrative staff all contribute to the measured private-sector space workforce. Aerospace engineers remain essential, but they are one part of a larger labor system.

The strongest workforce message is that space is becoming an industrial and digital economy. Hardware still matters. Manufacturing still matters. Systems engineering still matters. Yet software, skilled technical labor, customer delivery, ground systems, supply chains, and business operations now shape the sector’s capacity to grow. A satellite constellation, launch provider, lunar services company, or Earth observation data firm cannot scale through engineering alone.

Better data remains necessary. The BEA paper excludes government from its main occupation-level estimate and excludes wholesale trade from much of the STEM analysis because of methodological concerns. It also relies on industry-level output shares to estimate occupation-level space employment. Those choices are transparent and defensible, but they show why workforce statistics still need refinement.

The next stage of space workforce development should combine degree pathways, technician training, software talent pipelines, defense and security workforce planning, commercial operations skills, and better occupation-level data. The space economy’s growth will depend as much on the availability of people who can build, test, sell, operate, secure, and maintain space systems as on the vision of engineers who design them.

Appendix: Useful Books Available on Amazon

• The Space Economy
• The Space Barons
• When the Heavens Went on Sale
• Liftoff
• The Case for Space

Appendix: Top Questions Answered in This Article

What Is the Space Economy Workforce?

The space economy workforce includes people whose jobs support space-related goods and services. It includes engineers, software developers, technicians, assemblers, scientists, sales teams, managers, administrators, supply-chain specialists, and customer support staff. The workforce is broader than the staff of launch companies and satellite manufacturers.

How Many Private-Sector Space Economy Workers Were in the United States in 2023?

The BEA working paper reports that the U.S. private-sector space economy employed more than 373,000 workers in 2023. That figure covers space-related work across many industries. It does not fully capture government employment or every contractor arrangement tied to space programs.

What Share of the Space Workforce Works in STEM Occupations?

The BEA working paper estimates that 56% of the measured private-sector space workforce in 2022 worked in STEM occupations. Those jobs included science and engineering occupations, science and engineering-related occupations, and STEM middle-skill occupations. The remaining 44% worked in non-STEM occupations.

Why Are Software Developers So Prominent in the Space Workforce?

Modern space systems depend on flight software, ground software, networks, cybersecurity, automation, data analytics, customer platforms, and cloud infrastructure. Satellites and launch systems increasingly operate as digital systems connected to commercial and government networks. That makes software development central to space business operations.

Are Aerospace Engineers the Largest Engineering Occupation in the Space Economy?

No. The BEA working paper estimates that industrial engineers represented a larger share of the measured 2022 space workforce than aerospace engineers. Mechanical engineers and electrical engineers also appeared prominently. Aerospace engineers remain essential, but space work draws on several engineering fields.

Why Do Non-STEM Workers Matter in the Space Economy?

Commercial space companies need sales, customer support, finance, procurement, administration, shipping, compliance, and business operations staff. These roles help convert technical capability into contracts, services, revenue, and customer adoption. A technically strong company can still struggle without commercial and operational capacity.

Why Are Technician and Production Jobs So Important?

Space hardware requires careful assembly, inspection, testing, repair, and documentation. Technicians, assemblers, machinists, installers, and quality workers help turn designs into working systems. These roles are often sensitive to training quality and hands-on experience.

Why Is Space Workforce Measurement Difficult?

Space activity is spread across many industries, and many companies do both space and non-space work. Statistical agencies must decide how much of an industry’s output and employment should count as space-related. Different countries and organizations use different definitions, which makes totals hard to compare.

How Does Defense and Security Demand Affect Space Hiring?

Defense and security demand can add requirements for clearances, secure facilities, cybersecurity controls, compliance staff, export control expertise, and formal procurement processes. These requirements can make hiring slower and more specialized. They also increase competition for experienced technical and program management workers.

What Should Space Workforce Development Emphasize?

Workforce development should include university degrees, technician credentials, apprenticeships, internships, co-ops, mid-career reskilling, and employer-led training. The sector needs engineers and scientists, but it also needs software workers, production staff, business operations teams, and commercial specialists.

Appendix: Glossary of Key Terms

Space Economy

The space economy includes goods and services that are used or produced in space, directly support space activity, require input from space systems, or relate to the study of space. It includes satellite communications, launch services, spacecraft manufacturing, navigation services, Earth observation, research, education, and related support activities.

Space Economy Workforce

The space economy workforce includes workers whose jobs support space-related production, services, operations, research, sales, infrastructure, and downstream applications. It includes employees inside obvious space companies and workers in adjacent industries that produce or distribute space-related products and services.

STEM

STEM means science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. In workforce statistics, the term covers occupations that use technical knowledge, from degree-based science and engineering roles to middle-skill technical jobs that may rely on certificates, associate degrees, apprenticeships, or job-based training.

Science and Engineering Occupations

Science and engineering occupations usually include computer and mathematical scientists, life scientists, physical scientists, social scientists, and engineers. These roles often require a bachelor’s degree or higher and are closely associated with design, research, modeling, analysis, and technical problem-solving.

Science and Engineering-Related Occupations

Science and engineering-related occupations use STEM expertise but do not fall inside the core science and engineering categories. In the space economy, these can include technical managers, engineering technologists, technicians, and other applied roles that connect technical systems to workplace execution.

STEM Middle-Skill Occupations

STEM middle-skill occupations require substantial technical knowledge but often do not require a bachelor’s degree. Space-related examples include assemblers, machinists, installers, repairers, line workers, computer numerically controlled tool operators, and production supervisors working with technical systems.

Gross Output

Gross output measures the total value of goods and services produced by an industry. It is broader than gross domestic product because it includes intermediate transactions. In the space economy, gross output helps show the scale of production activity tied to space-related goods and services.

Gross Domestic Product

Gross domestic product measures the value added by production within an economy. For the space economy, it represents the contribution of space-related goods and services to national economic output after intermediate inputs are accounted for.

North American Industry Classification System

The North American Industry Classification System is a standard way to classify industries in U.S., Canadian, and Mexican economic statistics. BEA uses these industry categories to identify where space-related production occurs across manufacturing, information, services, education, construction, and trade.

Standard Occupational Classification

The Standard Occupational Classification system groups workers by job type. It allows analysts to compare occupations across industries and time. The BEA working paper uses it to connect space-related industries with specific jobs such as software developers, assemblers, engineers, and sales representatives.