The space industry is really taking off, but an imminent workforce shortage threatens to slow it down. Analysts are concerned that a lack of skilled labor could impact aerospace's growth in recent years, putting key projects on hold or preventing space startups from gaining traction. If you’ve been curious about space work but worried the industry is oversaturated, now could be your opportunity to shine.
In January, the Euroconsult Group, a market research company specializing in the space sector, reported that the “space economy” has ballooned to $464 billion (up 159% from 2010). Although satellite manufacturing, launch services, and ground operations might initially come to mind, remote satellite operations and services make up a big piece of the space pie. Not surprisingly, space tourism has also become a prominent category, with companies from Virgin Galactic to SpaceX promising to send wealthy sightseers to the stars. The growth within these verticals has some analysts predicting a $1 trillion space industry valuation by 2030.
But reaching that milestone will require a lot of workers, and those are in short supply. According to the Space Foundation’s annual Space Report, job opportunities within the US space industry have grown 18% over the past five years. Meanwhile, American colleges saw a decline in engineering students across the same period, prompting the industry to wonder whether the workforce could keep up with demand. Indeed, the Space Foundation says only 17% of NASA’s workforce is under 35; not only does the agency tend to hire workers who have accumulated a lot of experience, but there aren’t as many young professionals under consideration as there could be.
The industry isn’t just short on engineers, though. Although STEM degrees requiring an intimate familiarity with astronomy, physics, robotics, computing, mathematics, and other technical topics are certainly one path toward space, the industry relies on workers proficient in a much wider range of skills. Welders, electricians, crane operators, and other blue-collar workers are essential to manufacturing and ground operations. In contrast, marketers, PR representatives, bookkeepers, lawyers, and other office workers keep things running in the background. In fact, as of writing, SpaceX is even hiring a barista.
As Space Foundation CEO Tom Zelibor put it in the nonprofit’s Q1 2023 report, the space industry might benefit from informing the public of the benefits of space exploration. These benefits are apparent to some, but others find space exploration nonessential or frivolous. Other people interested in the space industry might be scared off from pursuing it as a career, thanks to its reputation for requiring advanced degrees and mathematical prowess. From the Space Foundation’s own educational projects to those run by The Planetary Society and Space for Humanity, public outreach could be the key to bolstering industry engagement.
