Overview
- NASA opened the recruitment drive at Kennedy Space Center on Saturday, Nov. 7, and is accepting USAJOBS applications through 11:59 p.m. EST on Dec. 3, 2026 with an estimated 2026 federal-pay salary of $164,395.
- Applicants must be U.S. citizens who meet one of NASA’s qualification routes — a master’s in a STEM field, certain medical degrees, substantial doctoral coursework, or completion of an accredited Test Pilot School — and most non-pilot applicants need at least three years of professional experience while pilots may qualify by meeting specified flight-hour thresholds.
- All candidates must pass NASA’s long-duration astronaut flight physical and show leadership, teamwork and communications skills, and selected recruits must relocate to Houston for roughly two years of candidate training at Johnson Space Center.
- NASA plans to announce the 25th astronaut class in late 2027 and begin training in early 2028, but graduates typically wait additional years for flight assignments so new hires are unlikely to join the planned 2028 lunar landing crews.
- The drive responds to a small active corps — reported at about 32 astronauts — and fierce competition in past cycles that drew thousands of applicants for very few slots, which means selection will be highly competitive and could reshape staffing for sustained Moon operations and Mars preparation.