Which space jobs are open to non-citizens (and which really aren't)

I get some version of this question multiple times a week: "as a non-US citizen, can I actually work in the space industry?" The default assumption behind the question is that ITAR and export controls put most space engineering roles off-limits.

The default assumption is mostly wrong. Below is what actually shows up in the postings.

The setup

I pulled the language of every active space-industry posting and ran two text searches:

• ITAR-flagged: mentions ITAR, U.S. person, export control, security clearance, DoD, or similar
• Explicit US-citizen phrase: uses "must be a US citizen," "US citizenship is required," "only US citizens," or "clearance required" specifically

Those are very different bars. Companies almost never write "must be a US citizen" verbatim, for legal reasons. They use softer language like "position requires access to information protected under U.S. export control laws" or "successful applicants will need to be U.S. persons." So the explicit-phrase count is going to be much lower than reality on the ground. What actually matters is the ITAR-flagged rate, because that tells you which companies think it's worth mentioning at all.

What the data actually shows

For companies with at least 30 active space postings:

The pattern

Most US space companies mention ITAR or export controls on every posting. This is largely defensive legal boilerplate, not a hard citizenship requirement per role. The company is telling you "if a specific role touches export-controlled work, you'll need to be a U.S. person, otherwise you might be fine."

What actually distinguishes companies is how much of their work is genuinely restricted. That's not visible from the posting text alone. You have to read the specific job description and, for most senior roles, ask the recruiter directly.

The exceptions are the companies with very low ITAR flagging. Relativity at 4%, Loft Orbital at 2%, Kepler at 9%, ispace at 17%. Those numbers mean these companies write their job posts with much less ITAR language, which usually correlates with either:

1. Commercial-only work, no defense contracts (Loft Orbital, Kepler)
2. Foreign-friendly hiring policies (Isar, ispace, Kepler)
3. Very software-forward roles where export controls don't practically apply

The actual bar for non-citizens

I want to be honest about what the data can and cannot tell you.

What the data can tell you:

• Which companies use aggressive ITAR language in every posting (nearly all US space companies do)
• Which companies have unusually low ITAR mention rates (Relativity, Loft, Kepler, ispace, Slingshot)
• The rough count of postings that use the most explicit "must be a US citizen" phrasing (usually a small percentage)

What the data cannot reliably tell you:

• Which specific roles will actually accept green card holders vs need US citizens
• Which visa types (H-1B, F-1 OPT) individual companies will sponsor
• Whether "US person" as used in a specific posting includes green card holders (usually yes) vs citizens only (rare)

The most reliable approach is to identify the companies with lower ITAR flagging (the concrete list above), start there, and read each specific posting. When a posting doesn't mention ITAR at all, that's a strong signal. When it does, you need to ask the recruiter what "US person status" means in their specific context.

Which companies are actually accessible to non-citizens

Based on the data plus what I know from candidates I've talked to:

Most accessible (low ITAR flag rate):

• Loft Orbital: 2% flag rate. Commercial hosted-payload business. Green card and often H-1B friendly.
• Relativity Space: 4% flag rate. Series-of-large-round-ago commercial launch. Some cleared work, most non-restricted.
• Kepler Communications: 9% flag rate. Canadian company (Toronto HQ) with US operations. Foreign engineer friendly by design.
• ispace: 17% flag rate. Japanese lunar company with Denver + Luxembourg offices. Non-US friendly.

Fully commercial, mid-flag rate:

• Planet Labs: 100% flag rate but the flagged language is mostly defensive boilerplate for a fundamentally commercial company. Software roles are broadly accessible.
• Spire Global: 98% flag rate, similar pattern. Software and data-forward.
• Astranis: 100% flag rate but commercial GEO comms. Software roles usually accessible.

High-flag rate defense-adjacent (specific roles only):

• SpaceX, Anduril, True Anomaly, Voyager, Ursa Major, Sierra Space, K2 Space, Vast, Stoke, Relativity, Isar. All have real restrictions on specific roles but many non-restricted roles too. Read the specific posting.
• Shield AI (defense-robotics, adjacent to space): not in the space catalog specifically, but worth flagging because engineers who look at this list will consider Shield AI too. Similar profile to Anduril: 92% of postings mention ITAR/export controls, and explicit US-citizen language on around 3%. The reality is similar to Anduril: many non-restricted software roles, hardware roles heavily restricted.

Very high restriction rate (mostly avoid unless citizen):

• Companies where roles are majority clearance-required. Voyager Technologies (~40% has US-person indicators), some Anduril defense roles. Read each posting carefully.

Where the wall actually is

Three categories of roles genuinely require US citizenship most of the time:

Launch vehicle hardware at SpaceX. SpaceX has ~1,820 active postings and almost all engineering roles on Falcon, Starship, Raptor, and their production lines are US-person only in practice. Some non-engineering roles (finance, some software, some support) are open. The engineering wall at SpaceX is real.

Anything DoD-cleared. If a role explicitly says "TS/SCI required" or "active security clearance required," non-citizens generally cannot get that clearance in the first place. About 15-25% of Voyager and True Anomaly roles fall here. Some of Ursa Major's defense-engine roles too.

Specific ITAR-controlled hardware work. Even at companies that are broadly non-citizen friendly, specific engineering roles that touch export-controlled artifacts (avionics on certain vehicles, propulsion parts for defense contracts, sensitive ground-systems software) will still require US person status. This is usually 10-30% of any given US space company's roster.

What you can actually do

Two paths if you're a non-citizen who wants space industry work.

Path 1: Green card / permanent resident. This unlocks most of the industry. Anduril, Rocket Lab, Vast, K2, Astranis, Planet Labs, Spire, Muon Space, Sierra Space (most roles), Loft Orbital, most of Relativity — all of these consider green card holders as US persons for ITAR purposes. Almost every role that isn't cleared is available.

Path 2: H-1B or other work visa. Harder but not blocked. Software-forward space companies (Planet Labs, Spire, Astranis, some Loft Orbital roles) will sponsor. Some of Rocket Lab's US software roles. Larger commercial companies with significant non-cleared work.

Roles that are effectively unavailable for non-citizens: SpaceX hardware engineering, anything at DoD contractors requiring active clearance, and specific ITAR-controlled hardware work at otherwise-friendly companies.

Reading the specific job postings

The best way to know if a specific role requires citizenship is to read the actual job posting. Look for these phrases:

• "Must be a US citizen" → hard bar, non-negotiable
• "US person status required" → non-negotiable, green cards count
• "Ability to obtain a security clearance" → generally requires citizenship
• "ITAR" or "export controls" (without a hard requirement) → usually means "certain roles might be affected, but not this specific one unless we say otherwise"
• No mention of any of the above → almost certainly open

The catalog surfaces all of these companies. Browse the space companies list and look at the individual job postings for the ones you're interested in.

Methodology

Data pulled May 12, 2026 from active space-niche job postings on MadeForSpace.io. "Clearance-flagged" is based on regex matching for ITAR, US person, US citizen, security clearance, DoD, and related terms in the requirements and full description fields. "Hard US-only" requires more explicit language like "must be a US citizen." Neither count is perfect because job posting language varies. If a company's numbers look off to you, the postings themselves are the ground truth.

Next update publishes early Q3. If your specific case doesn't fit the categories above, email hello@madeforspace.io and I'll look at the specific postings you're considering.