Do I need a PhD to work in astronomy or space?

absolutely NOT!

here’s a quick overview of my career roadmap:

1. graduated with a bachelor’s of science in physics
2. worked for the National Radio Astronomy Observatory as a Scientific Data Analyst (suuuper entry level) for 1 year after graduating
3. got a job in the space industry with a company called MITRE as a Space Systems Engineer (doing similar stuff i’m doing now – telescope operations!). worked there for ~3 years
4. left to join my current company (doing the same work as a telescope operator)

I am only doing a master’s degree right now because I wanted to – not because I needed it!

there’s a LOT of companies that are willing to train “green” engineers or scientists with minimal experience (i am proof of this!)

a PhD is really only required if you want to get paid full time to do research. but even if you choose the route of joining the workforce immediately, all of these companies have research opportunities like as a side thing to do while you work!)