At a prime, a design change can go through several rounds of review before anyone touches the hardware. If you’re leaving a prime for a space startup, the sign-off might be you and one other engineer.
For a lot of engineers, that’s the appeal.
You get to follow your work from the drawing to the test stand. If you’re thinking about making the move, start with what startup hiring managers look for. Being qualified is only part of it. You also want to know you’d be happy there.
What Changes When Leaving a Prime for a Space Startup
But the ownership you crave comes with a trade-off. A small team means fewer people checking your work, and fewer review steps to catch a mistake before it reaches the hardware. Your role gets broader too. You might design a bracket one week and run its vibration test the next.
Your work is also more open to scrutiny.
On a 30-person team, everyone can see how your part of the project is going. From what we’ve seen, the engineers who stay and grow at a startup knew what they were signing up for: more ownership, and more scrutiny when things go wrong.
How to Know If a Space Startup Is Right for You
Not everyone will be happy at a startup. A startup can train you to close a skill gap. Changing how you like to work is much harder.
These questions can help you work out whether a startup suits the way you like to work:
- When there’s no process for something, how do you usually handle it?
- How do you feel about taking on work outside your job title, including the unglamorous parts?
- How would you handle being the one responsible when something you built fails a test?
- Where do you want your career to go in the next few years: deeper into engineering, or into managing people?
That last question matters most if you’re already in a lead role at a prime. A technical lead who’s still hands-on is one of the hardest profiles startups ask us to find. At bigger companies, engineers tend to step back from the technical work once they start leading. A startup lead usually has to run the team and still do the engineering.
Seed Stage vs Scale-Up: Which New Space Company Suits You?
If some of those questions gave you pause, you don’t have to rule out new space. You might find that a scale-up is a better fit.
Seed-stage startups
At a seed-stage startup, the team is small, so your role will stretch well beyond your job title. It’s where you’ll get the most ownership and the biggest step up. Smaller startups also tend to be more flexible on years of experience, so a jump to lead can come sooner. It’s also the stage where a company is most likely to run out of money or change direction, which makes your job less secure. Getting from seed to Series A has become harder since 2021, according to Carta’s data, though some of those companies are still young or growing without new funding. Before you join, ask how much runway the company has.
Series A and B companies
By Series A and B, companies are usually building their first proper teams and putting basic processes in place. You’ll still own a lot, but you’ll also have more support around you.
Scale-ups
A scale-up is a company that’s past the early startup stage and growing fast, often into the hundreds of people. We’ve seen one company grow from about 450 to 700 people in 18 months. There was plenty of room to step up, but it had more of the support an engineer from a prime is used to.
Whichever stage you look at, check that the company is on solid ground before you sign. Here are four signs a space startup is a safe bet. And because many of these roles need you on site, relocating for a space role may be part of the decision too.
Making the Switch From Old Space to New Space
Before you apply, think about which stage suits how you like to work, whether that’s a ten-person seed startup or a scale-up of several hundred. It’ll help you pick the right roles and know what to ask in the interview. If you’re thinking about leaving a prime for a space startup, take a look at the space roles we’re hiring for right now.