Image credit: SpaceX
If I were a young person choosing a career today, I would take a serious look at the space industry. It is growing quickly, the work is meaningful, and many rewarding careers do not require a four-year college degree. There is a tremendous amount to learn, so let’s explore a few possibilities.
Recovery operations and recovery technology
You might become a doctor who examines astronauts after they return from space—but that is only one role. Recovery teams also design, build, deploy, and maintain floating platforms filled with sensors that record every detail of a landing. Accurate data is essential to improving safety and future missions. This is applied science, hands-on technology, and work that is increasingly in demand.
Heat-shield technology, materials science, and engineering
At Rocket Ranch in Texas, I met a young man who had started with no previous experience. He was working incredibly hard as part of a team installing, inspecting, analyzing, and maintaining the heat-shield tiles on SpaceX Starship. Careers in this field range from developing new materials to testing complete heat shields and maintaining individual components. SpaceX even has facilities near Cocoa Beach, Florida—not a bad place to work. The job can be demanding, but the pay is good and the experience is invaluable.
Stand up where you are and slowly turn in a full circle. Look carefully at everything around you. Chairs, clothing, electronics, windows, tools, lighting, plumbing, air conditioning, food, communications—engineers are redesigning nearly all of it for deep space, the Moon, and Mars.
We do not know what we do not know, so never assume your options are limited. If you are not jumping out of bed excited about what you are doing, ask yourself: “What would I be excited to work on?” If you do not know the answer yet, that is okay. Start exploring, learn something new, and try something different. Your future career may be in a field you have not discovered yet.