Mission ops
| Highest | $7,200 / mo · United States |
|---|---|
| Experience | 2–4 yrs |
| Degree | Required |
| First paycheck | 4 years bachelor's + 2 years master's |
Pay in the destination countries
Monthly, in US dollars. Each country is an Imora admission package — open one for that route's fees, language requirement and deadline.
What does the day look like?
Your shift takes place inside a spacecraft operations control centre. About 15% to 20% of the day involves active ground station contact passes (lasting 10 minutes to 45 minutes for Low Earth Orbit) and real-time commanding. Using mission control systems such as SCOS-2000, EGS-CC, Yamcs, COSMOS, or GMV hifly, you track telemetry like battery bus voltage, temperatures, solar panel current, and reaction wheel speeds, uplinking flight procedures via ECSS PUS and CCSDS standards.
The remaining 80% to 85% of your time is routine technical preparation: 40% is spent authoring flight procedures, running simulator validation, and updating databases; 25% goes to post-pass telemetry analysis and reporting; and 15% covers shift handovers and logging. Scripting and analysis rely on Python, MATLAB, C++, Tcl/Tk, and Grafana. During Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP) and commissioning, operations run 24/7 with 8-hour or 12-hour rotational day, evening, and night shifts, followed by on-call rotational standby during routine mission phases.
Where does this lead?
Next step up
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