How to break into the space industry
The space economy hires more software engineers than astronauts. Here is the practical path in: what to read, where the community gathers, and where the jobs are. Every link checked, everything stale culled.
Learn the industry
You do not need an aerospace degree to be useful in space. You need context: how the industry fits together, who builds what, and why the economics changed.
A weekly technical newsletter that ran for seven years and ended with its 350th issue in January 2026. The archive is still dense, free and worth reading.
International Space University ↗The classic formal route: interdisciplinary space studies programs with an alumni network across every agency and major company.
Our founder interviews27 space founders on how they actually got started, funded and hired. The unfiltered version of the industry.
The Space Barons ↗The book that explains how billionaire capital restarted the space race and created the market every startup here competes in.
Read the newsletters
The space press moves fast, and these newsletters do the sorting. Most are free. The Orbital Index recommended the last six in its final issue.
Daily business-of-space coverage. This is where funding rounds, contracts and policy land first.
Jatan.space ↗Jatan Mehta writes Moon Monday, a weekly on lunar exploration, and Indian Space Progress, a monthly on India's space sector. Both are free.
Europe in Space ↗Andrew Parsonson's weekly on the European space industry, from launch startups to agency politics. The weekly issue is free.
TerraWatch Space ↗Aravind Ravichandran's analysis of the Earth observation business: who buys satellite data, and who makes money from it.
China Space Monitor ↗Blaine Curcio's deep dives on China's space industry, from its commercial launch companies to its answers to Starlink. The last issue came out in December 2025.
Satellite Spotlight ↗A weekly digest of space business and defence deals: contracts, raises and acquisitions.
Rocket Report ↗Ars Technica's weekly roundup of launch news, from small rockets to heavy lift. The link goes to a November 2026 edition.
Meet the community
Space is a small industry that hires through its own network. Show up, and it is surprisingly easy to be known.
The global network for students and young professionals: local events, working groups, and a genuine pipeline into agencies and startups.
NASA Space Apps Challenge ↗The world’s largest space hackathon, held in hundreds of cities every October. The lowest-friction way to build something and meet people.
London Space Network ↗Monthly happy hours for the UK space scene. Every space hub has an equivalent; find yours and go.
Find a job
Startups in this directory are hiring across engineering, software, operations and business roles. These boards specialise in exactly that.
The biggest board dedicated to New Space companies, updated constantly.
Space Individuals ↗European-leaning aerospace job board with agency and startup roles side by side.
The directory itselfPick ten startups you believe in and write to them. Small teams read their inboxes; half the jobs are never posted.
Building a space startup?
There's a separate kit for you: grants, accelerators and the investors who actually write space checks.
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