- Two Boeing Starliner astronauts just touched down on Earth after an unexpected nine-month stay at the International Space Station. Most people wouldn’t risk a life of eternal darkness in space for a million dollars—but the astronauts did so for far less: just over $150,000 yearly without overtime or hazard pay.
The internet has been rife with secondhand anxiety over the Boeing Starliner astronauts being stranded in space for nine months. They initially launched their test flight in June 2024, anticipating the trip would only take over a week. But after several of Boeing’s Starliner capsule Calypso’s thrusters failed during docking, the two astronauts were stuck in orbit until yesterday, March 18, 2025.
It’s an existential nightmare to most—and no amount of money would convince some people to take the risk of the job. But NASA astronauts like the Boeing Starliner’s Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore brave the profession for quite little: They make an annual salary of $152,258, according to NASA’s 2024 pay rates.
Plus, they don’t get overtime or any pay bump for the danger of the situation.
“[There’s] no hazard pay, there’s no overtime, there’s no comp time,” Mike Massimino, a veteran of two Space Shuttle missions, previously toldMarketWatch. “There’s no financial incentive to stay in space longer.”
A NASA spokesperson confirmed with Fortune that they’re paid a 40-hour-per-week salary, with no additional pay for holiday or weekends—despite the fact that they’re literally at work after work.
They added that the astronauts receive incidental amounts for each day they’re in space—but since they’re on long-term temporary duty, it’s only about $5 per day. That’s about $1,430 for the entire 286-day stay.
“When NASA astronauts are aboard the International Space Station, they receive regular 40-hour workweek salaries,” NASA told Fortune in a statement. “While in space, NASA astronauts are on official travel orders as federal employees, so their transportation, lodging, and meals are provided.”
The salary would be adjusted to reflect wage increases in 2025, but the Boeing Starliner astronauts spent most of their nine months in orbit during 2024. In comparison to other high-paying jobs with little to zero danger, this wage can feel disproportionate to the risk.
But Williams and Wilmore knew that risks like their nine-month hiccup came with the territory, and actually refuted the notion that they were left out to dry. It’s a part of their job that they’ve comfortably settled into.
“That’s been the rhetoric. That’s been the narrative from day one: stranded, abandoned, stuck—and I get it. We both get it,” Wilmore said in an interview with CNN last month. “But that is, again, not what our human spaceflight program is about. We don’t feel abandoned, we don’t feel stuck, we don’t feel stranded.”
It’s a dangerous job—but astronauts have their own motivation
When most people think of six-figure jobs, they think of cushy white-collar gigs in temperature-controlled offices. It might be a no-brainer to go into law, consulting, or banking—seeing as there’s no bodily risk on the table for those careers.
By comparison, bankers in New York make an average of $111,000 annually, without the risk of being exposed to an indefinite stay in dark, noiseless, uninhabited space. Consultants in the same area could rake in $137,000, providing advice to clients from the comfort of their offices or couches. And even the average sales professional in the city can make over $200,000 with no inherent risk of harm in generating leads and selling products.
But astronauts probably aren’t motivated by money.It’s been a long-held dream career for many—despite new professions like YouTubers and video game creators taking flight, over 10% of U.K. and U.S. kids still dream of becoming astronauts. That role was one of the top five career aspirations for U.S. children, according to a 2019 study from Lego.
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Astronauts like Williams and Wilmore are veterans of their craft—and the nine months they’ve spent at the space station have been dedicated to upkeep and research. They’ve been busy inspecting hardware, arranging cargo, aiding in science tests, performing tech demonstrations, and checking in on the Starliner. Wilmore helped configure a new airlock, and Williams has been testing out athleticism in low-orbit’s zero gravity. Their work at the International Space Station is improving NASA’s knowledge base—and helping upkeep an essential destination for astronauts.
Their passion for space exploration makes a $150,000 salary seem worth it. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go to space and be the universe traveler many people have fantasized about becoming. While the Boeing Starliner fiasco may seem like a nightmare to some, for astronauts it simply means going even longer on the job they love.
As Ken Bowersox, space operations mission chief and former NASA astronaut, saidlast week: “Every astronaut that launches into space, we teach them don’t think about when you’re coming home. Think about how well your mission’s going and if you’re lucky, you might get to stay longer.”
