Space Jobs: Finding Employment in the New Space Economy (Part I)

Engineers are sought after (especially, the core hasn’t changed much) and will be in the future experts in AI, cybersecurity, but also architects and psychologists with a focus on the Moon and Mars. The roads have become almost infinite, like the possibilities. And the “hunt” for the best profiles is on. From four of the leading space companies in Italy – two “big” ones like Thales Alenia Space and Ohb Italia, and two fast-rising SMEs, D-orbit, and Argotec – a reflection in two parts on “space jobs.”

BY EMILIO COZZI AND MATTEO MARINI

AAA engineers wanted, still. And increasingly so, to be precise. If one were to compare job postings from a space-operating company thirty years ago to now, the differences wouldn’t be so stark. Working in the sector still primarily involves engineering. What gives hope is that work in the new space economy seems to be on the rise. In Italy, thanks to the Pnrr, funds and investments have skyrocketed, quite literally. Without fearing a bubble, hiring is happening because estimates, even on a global level, still predict a steep and rapid rise in the entire sector: the roads have become almost infinite (think of “space lawyers,” a profile rarely discussed but already much needed), like the possibilities. The hunt for the best profiles is open.

Thus, alongside system engineers, IT, electronics, and mechanics, today’s sought-after profiles also include propulsion, optics, AI for small and intelligent satellites. The cloud will demand cyber skills, while lunar exploration and the “space-ification” of companies from various sectors will see a mix of everything. Space architects and “humanists” on the Moon, just to throw out a tantalizing suggestion. We spoke with representatives from four of the leading companies in the sector. Two “big” ones, Thales Alenia Space and Ohb Italia (part of the Ohb SE conglomerate), and two SMEs experiencing vigorous growth: Argotec and D-Orbit.

Even when it comes to the economics of a new approach to the sector, therefore, the “space jobs” one might “apply” to, allowing a pertinent Anglicism, are mostly for the same professions as before. “What does the new space economy mean?” Massimo Comparini, CEO of Thales Alenia Space Italia, asks in this regard. “If we talk about the economy generated by space infrastructure, the skills to build a satellite are those learned in electronic, computer, and mechanical engineering. There are no new roles compared to twenty years ago; of course, they’re updated to current times and needs, for example, regarding new materials or integration with digital technologies. There’s an evolution of the basic skills needed to build space infrastructure. However, I don’t see a sharp division between the old and new space economy.”

An analysis that also finds resonance in another gigantic reality of the Italian space economy, Ohb Italia, part of the group headquartered in Bremen and totaling over three thousand employees. The Italian branch counts 270, including 40 hired in 2022 and 62 in 2023, with another 50 recruits planned for 2024. “Senior figures in systems engineering are among the most sought after at the moment,” explains Raffaele Staffiere, HR manager at Ohb Italia, “from the head of the Control Center and ground segment to the manager responsible for satellite verification, calibration, and validation. These are activities that are somewhat core to the space industry or have become so during these boom years. Staffiere provides some examples related to the company he works for: “Satellites & missions, Earth observation, Space situational awareness, and Space surveillance & tracking (risk monitoring and management in orbit), Equipment, Scientific & planetary instruments: as a result, our personnel searches focus on hard skills in these activities.” A particular case is that of a new instrument: “Ohb Italia has developed a significant ground telescope, the Flyeye. We are particularly active in seeking expertise in optics: engineers, optomechanics, and AIT engineers.”

Even in Turin, experts in optics and telescopes are sought after: at Argotec, where the Liciacube probe and the platform on which it is based, Hawk, were born. Developed by a small company with a few dozen employees at the time, Hawk has flown twice with NASA – for Liciacube and Argomoon – and Argotec, backed by a well-established success and reliability, has since consolidated its position in the autonomous satellite sector. “It took us a year and a half to find an expert in optics, telescopes operating in space, because there was a need to expand expertise in this sector. I’ve seen only two resumes in a year and a half,” says Giulia Peretto, Human Capital Specialist at the Turin-based company, which recently expanded to the United States with an additional office.

These are two very different corporate realities, Ohb and Argotec, but both capable of attracting high-profile talents and competencies. In Italy, there are 415 active companies in the space core and non-core sectors, as confirmed by a report on “Space Economy, Space Industry, and Space Law,” recently presented to the Ministry of Made in Italy and prepared by the Leonardo Foundation – Civiltà delle Macchine, Space Economy Evolution Lab of Sda Bocconi School of Management, and the University La Sapienza of Rome. 62% are in the upstream segment, 28% in the midstream, and 50% in the downstream segment. In terms of size, 7% of companies fall into the “large” classification, 66% are small and medium-sized enterprises, while the remaining 27% are startups.

Far from being one of these startups, Argotec outlines a reality where the satellite is entirely conceived and produced in-house. Phases to which a manufacturing part will soon be added. Here too, everything revolves around engineers: “aerospace, mechanical, electronic, telecommunications, and software engineers,” Peretto continues. “On the manufacturing side, we seek operators for assembly and all aspects of mechanical and electronic testing. Our engineers start from design and technical drawings, covering everything from prototyping to production, testing, orbit deployment, and monitoring.”

Then there are figures involved in communication and marketing, which can be considered cross-functional: the need for branding and business development is a phase of great ferment. Like Argotec itself, which in the last fifteen months has more than doubled its staff, “from 60 to 150 people, with the intention of reaching 250 by 2025,” emphasizes Peretto. “We have conducted all kinds of selections and created completely new working teams, such as IT, infrastructure, all development process management, business marketing, human resources, and finance.”

In smaller settings, managing a product conceived and developed in-house implies multidisciplinary management in all phases. “There are no watertight compartments. From a managerial point of view – project management – competencies in budget and time management are needed, but substantial technical know-how is also implied. PMs in the space field boast engineering skills, making them among the most sought after,” notes Peretto.

A discourse not dissimilar to that of another SME, which will soon no longer be one: D-Orbit. Starting with management: “We need those who get things done, someone who even without experience in a large team gets their ‘hands dirty’ in daily tasks,” suggests Andrea Di Nunzio, chief people officer of the Fino Mornasco-based company. The flagship product for D-Orbit today is Ion, a sort of revolution for space logistics: it is a satellite that serves as a taxi, carrier, for other micro and nanosats, and which can also become an orbiting laboratory to test materials and technologies, including digital ones. The search for professional profiles concerns, first and foremost, “system engineers: two very strong components are propulsion and thermal aspects. They are very difficult to find on the market and, predictably, also attract the attention of our competitors,” admits Di Nunzio. “Always in the technology domain, hardware, and prototyping. In terms of operations, which ensure mission execution, the roles are more ‘standard.’ Our technicians handle assembly and flight operations, the people ensuring maneuvers in orbit.”

We’re talking about aerospace engineering but not only, Di Nunzio clarifies, because “the propulsion part, for example, is similar to that of other markets, like the airlines. All the aerodynamic management and material study parts, instead, are sought in the strictly space domain because material behavior is different from what happens within the atmosphere and implies more detailed expertise.”

The report provided to Minister Adolfo Urso also mentions, among the many strengths of the national supply chain, a “virtuous ecosystem between industry, universities, and research centers.” This is especially true for the big realities, very attractive: “Italian university centers with which we collaborate and which train engineers, such as those in Milan, Turin, Trento, Rome, and Naples, have excellent levels of technical preparation,” adds Ohb’s Staffiere. “Then it’s up to the company and the HR function to enhance their resources, guide them towards the future, and the ability to innovate. It is also true that, sometimes, specific profile needs emerge based on new space missions that the company has managed to secure. In these cases, candidate screening is tailored to mission objectives, hence very accurate.”

With some challenges, however, which do not escape those with a privileged viewpoint: “our universities produce first-rate engineers and technicians, but they are few, compared to India and China,” reflects Comparini. “Here, we graduate about a thousand electronic engineers, but 30 percent are foreigners, and there are only a few hundred Italians who stay here. So yes, our training centers are important, but to remain among the leading countries, we must aspire to growth, we must support it, especially in this period of demographic decline.” Thales Alenia Space, in the recent biennium, has grown by about 650 units, “from 2,200 to 2,850,” confirms Comparini. “Most of them are engineers with five years of specialization and physicists. We have activated an important recruitment process in continuous collaboration with research centers and universities. We have also established the Gran Sasso Science Institute, to bring together scientific and applied research in the space field.”

Among the areas for improvement, there is also a “growing difficulty in finding and retaining resources with qualified skills necessary to support development in specific cutting-edge technological areas such as AI, cybersecurity, cryptography, and quantum computing.” A difficulty more evident in a company like D-Orbit, of smaller size compared to the giants. “The most complex part for us is propulsion because universities are not contributing to meeting demand. The same goes for system engineers responsible for satellite software control: it’s a skill we struggle to find, which is why we turn abroad, creating recruitment hubs in the UK and Portugal, where there are profiles in line with our needs. We conduct hunting, branding activities, and recruitments,” Di Nunzio points out. He also highlights at least two other interesting aspects: “There is little propensity for change, and it has become more complicated to repatriate talent from abroad because, with the new regulations, it is now less convenient. And then there is strong price competition, also given the substantial resources injected with the Pnrr, a good thing that could, however, jeopardize the sustainability of companies in the future in an inflated market.” These difficulties haven’t prevented D-Orbit from tripling its number of employees in two years (now 283) and relaunching, in 2024, with a hiring plan that includes 100 new employees.