Space Communications Job Searching

It’s overwhelming, trying to finding what’s out there. I’ve been asked before where I look to and how I find places to apply.

Last updated: July 2024

General Tips for Job Searching

• Know your skillset. There’s a wide range of communications skills including writing, editing, and social media. Other skills could be relevant too depending like photography, podcasting, and videography.

• Know common phrases. There is a wide array of communications roles. Varying the terms used in searching for potential jobs. Frequently I look for communications specialist, public relations specialist, digital content specialist, and strategic communications specialist. Some companies simply call communications roles technical specialist.

• Read the full job description. Since there are so many kinds of roles, always read the job description and cross-reference your skillset list. If you feel like you can perform most of the duties (and you’re interested), apply!

• Experience is as important as Education. Focus on the duties over the education requirements. If you have experience writing but don’t have a communications education, there is nothing wrong with that. Plenty of highly successful people enter science communications without traditional degrees. Start a blog, test social media ideas, gain the experience you want.

• Submit that resume if you meet most of the qualifications (and you’re interested). Before hitting the job market for the first time, I read a Harvard Business Review article that most women don’t apply unless they are 100% qualified. Men, by contrast, generally apply if they meet 60% of the skillsets. My personal rule became if I met 80% of the skills required, I’d apply. I could always learn additional skills, like software, on the job.

Federal Agencies with Space Connections

Non-contract, or federal, positions will be listed on USAjobs.gov.

• NOAA

• NASA: Ames Research Center, Armstrong Flight Research Center, Glenn Research Center, Goddard Space Flight Center, Katherine Johnson IV and V Facility, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Johnson Space Center, Kennedy Space Center, Langley Research Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters, NASA Stennis Space Center, Wallops Flight Facility

• USGS: Landsat Program, EROS Center

• Los Alamos National Laboratory

• Smithsonian: National Air and Space Museum

• Military: Space Command, Air Force

Contractors to Federal Agencies

Contract positions will be listed on these sites or aggregate sites.

• Media Fusion

• MRI Technologies

• KBR Technologies: C2G Inc.

• SSAI

• Jacobs

• Barrios Technology: ARES Corporation

• SAIC

• ASRC Federal

• MORI Associates

• Alutiiq

• Aeyon

Companies with Space Connections

• Multi-interest Companies: Honeywell, Northop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Ball Aerospace, Boeing, Raytheon, RocketLab, Collins Aerospace, Airbus, The Aerospace Corporation, Sierra Nevada Corporation, Oliver Wyman, Mercury Systems, BAE Systems, GE Aerospace, Aerojet Rocketdyne, Axiom Space, Booz Allen Hamilton

• Rocket Companies: SpaceX, Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, Virgin Orbit, United Launch Alliance, Firefly Aerospace, Astra

• Satellite and Geospatial Companies: Planet Labs, Maxar Technologies, Spin Launch, Descartes Labs, Astranis,

• Aerospace Companies: Hermeus, Sierra Space

• Manufacturing Companies: Made In Space

• Small Companies: OrbitFab

Organizations with Space Connections

• Advertising and Public Relations: Griffins Communications, The Aviation Agency,

• Advocacy Groups: The Planetary Society, X Prize Foundation, National Space Society, Space Foundation, The Mars Society, Project Possum, AmericaView, International Institute for Astronautical Sciences, ISS National Laboratory

• Reporting: Space.com, SpaceNews, NASA Spaceflight, Stories of Space Project and most science news organizations

• Museums and NASA Visitor Centers: Space Center Houston, U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Virginia Air and Space Center, John C. Stennis Space Center, Great Lakes Science Center, Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Godard Visitor Center, WFF Visitor Center, NASA Ames Visitor Center

• Space Grant Universities: Texas A&M University, University of Alabama in Huntsville, University of Arizona, UC San Diego, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Central Florida, Georgia Institute of Technology,  Johns Hopkins University, MIT, University of Michigan, Emry Riddle University, International Space University, University of North Dakota, University of Utah, and many many more