SatNews Editorial Analysis
The satellite and space industry has a problem it doesn’t want to talk about. While executives parade billion-dollar valuations and revolutionary mega-constellations across conference stages, a quieter crisis festers beneath the glossy press releases: the industry is hemorrhaging talent, and the “cool factor” of working in space is no longer enough to keep people from walking out the door.
According to the Space Foundation’s 2025 Q1 Report, the average space industry salary reached approximately $135,000 in 2023, nearly double the average private sector wage of $72,608. Yet companies still struggle to fill critical positions. The 2022 Aerospace Industries Association and AIAA Workforce Study found that industry attrition rates climbed to 7.1% in 2022 from just 4.3% in 2017. Seventy percent of aerospace companies reported increased turnover.
How did an industry that sends robots to Mars become unable to convince bright engineers to stick around?
The Myth of Mission-Driven Loyalty
For decades, space companies operated on a seductive premise: pay people less than Silicon Valley, work them harder than Wall Street, but dangle the existential thrill of contributing to humanity’s cosmic future. Engineers would accept grueling hours because they were building rockets, not optimizing ad clicks.
This worked. For a while.
Recent industry surveys reveal that 95% of space organizations experience skills-related issues, with three quarters struggling to recruit staff with necessary skills. Most cite competition from other sectors as the biggest challenge at 68%, followed by competition from other space companies at 45%.
When your data scientist can earn the same salary analyzing satellite telemetry or building recommendation algorithms at Netflix (with better work-life balance, remote flexibility, and stock options that actually vest), the romance of space dims considerably.
Competing Against Everyone (And Losing)
The space industry’s talent crisis isn’t just internal competition. Space companies face competition across all industries, as technical capabilities like data analytics have become universally demanded.
Industry skills gap analysis shows that 72% of organizations identify software and data skills as their primary need. Software and electronics skills make up six of the top 10 skills gaps in the sector, accounting for 36% of open vacancies and proving the most difficult to recruit for.
From California to Toulouse, space companies compete with tech, finance, defense, and energy sectors. All have deeper pockets, better benefits, and more predictable work cultures.
The Work-Life Imbalance Nobody Wants to Address
The 2022 AIA/AIAA Workforce Study found that 78% of companies reported higher pay in other sectors as a key reason for departures, but compensation tells only part of the story.
Take SpaceX. While company representatives have maintained that turnover rates are below industry average, a 2024 University of Chicago and University of Michigan study on return-to-office mandates found that SpaceX experienced a 15% decline in employee ranks following its full-time presence requirement, compared to 5% at Microsoft and 4% at Apple with more flexible arrangements. Anonymous reviews frequently cite management turnover and demanding schedules, with one former technician noting “5+ supervisors in less than 2 years.”
You can’t build a sustainable 30-year Mars program on engineers who burn out in three.
When High Salaries Aren’t High Enough
Space industry salaries are substantial, nearly double the typical private sector wage according to the Space Foundation. But salary alone has never been the complete equation.
Recent retention data shows significant challenges. Organizations report issues mostly attributed to staff poaching (57%) and lower pay compared to some other sectors (48%). The space industry’s reliance on legacy defense contractor mindsets clashes with modern workforce expectations. Strict security clearances, inflexible work arrangements, and glacial promotion timelines create friction.
A 28-year-old propulsion engineer with a top-secret clearance can’t work remotely, can’t take a sabbatical, and discovers that “career progression” means waiting for someone to retire. Meanwhile, that engineer’s college roommate at Google just got promoted after two years, works from Bali three months a year, and has equity that’s actually liquid.
The Demographic Time Bomb
The space workforce is aging, with significant portions of the international sector approaching retirement age. Multiple space agencies and organizations are experiencing or anticipating substantial workforce turnover in the coming years, compounding the challenge of replacing institutional knowledge while simultaneously meeting new workforce expectations.
Industry consultancies have warned that major space investment programs could be ineffective without addressing the skills crisis, noting that the majority are struggling to find engineering skills, particularly in newer or more specialized areas like AI, machine learning, and embedded software and electronics.
The Hard Choices Ahead
Solving the workforce crisis requires strategic decisions that may conflict with established operational models. There’s no single prescription.
Compensation structure: Space already pays nearly double the private sector average, yet attrition continues climbing. Perhaps the issue isn’t absolute dollars but equity that actually vests, bonuses tied to achievable milestones, or profit-sharing. Others counter that this fuels an unsustainable arms race pricing smaller companies out entirely.
Mission-driven culture: SpaceX and others have built remarkable achievements on intense work cultures demanding extraordinary commitment. But the 7.1% attrition data suggests this model may not scale industry-wide. The question isn’t whether to abandon intensity but whether current execution is sustainable.
Flexibility: Research on return-to-office mandates shows measurable costs—firms with strict RTO policies saw higher departures. Yet many space roles genuinely require physical presence, and ITAR restrictions limit remote work. The challenge is differentiating between roles where flexibility is feasible and where it’s not, without creating resentment.
Industry analysis reveals the sector risks having an “hourglass” workforce. There’s plenty of early-career interest, but a shortage of mid-level talent. Accelerating promotions could address this, but risks elevating people before they’ve developed necessary institutional knowledge. The alternative means accepting that ambitious talent will leave for faster advancement elsewhere.
Space sector roles now take a median of 10 weeks to fill. Seventy-two percent are difficult or very difficult to recruit for. In a talent shortage, companies may have no choice but to overpay for external hires, creating exactly the attrition they’re trying to prevent.
The Reckoning
The workforce crisis stems from a collision between traditional aerospace operating models and changing workforce expectations. Whether the solution lies in adapting those models or finding workers who fit existing cultures remains an open question.
Some companies will experiment with flexibility and work-life balance. Others will double down on intensity and mission-driven culture, betting they can still find enough people willing to make those trade-offs. The market will determine which approach proves sustainable.
Industry analysts note that creating long-term economic growth in the space sector is a marathon, not a sprint. The global space industry could top $1.8 trillion in the coming decades, but whether that growth requires fundamentally different workforce strategies or simply better execution of proven models remains contested.
What’s undeniable is the cost of inaction. Space companies that ignore attrition data will find themselves with impressive technology and insufficient people to operate it. Those that take workforce challenges seriously—whatever strategies they choose—will have competitive advantage.
The question isn’t whether the space industry should adapt to workforce expectations or vice versa. The question is which companies will find sustainable answers first.