Ground Software Engineer

Also called: Mission Control Software Engineer

Writes the software in mission control that sends commands to spacecraft and displays their data.

A day in the life

You build a dashboard that shows a satellite's battery in real time and test command scripts on a simulator. On launch day you sit in mission control in case something goes wrong.

Pay over a career

Starting

$95k

Typical

$135k

High

$195k

Training

Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in computer science or engineering.

Ways in: 4-year college. Training cost: $15k – $60k.

Majors to look at: Computer Science, Aerospace Engineering.

Outlook

Growing much faster than average (about 15% over 10 years). Software developers overall.

Will it last? Our AI estimate

Medium risk for 10 years. AI coding tools write much routine software, squeezing junior roles; mission-critical design and testing stay human.

Start now, in high school

Classes: AP Computer Science, AP Calculus, Physics, Statistics.

• Build a dashboard for live data with Python
• Enter the Congressional App Challenge
• Join a CubeSat team

Official data: O*NET occupation 15-1252.

More Mission Operations & Mission Control careers

• Flight Director
• Flight Controller
• CAPCOM (Spacecraft Communicator)
• Flight Dynamics / Trajectory Engineer
• Deep Space Navigator
• Simulation Supervisor (SimSup)
• Mission Operations Engineer
• Spacecraft Sequencing Engineer
• ISS Payload Operations Controller
• Deep Space Network Operator
• Telemetry Analyst
• Control Room Systems Technician
• Ground Systems Operator
• Mission Operations Scheduler

Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.