2026 Undergraduate Defensive Cyber Operations Intern

The Aerospace Corporation is the trusted partner to the nation’s space programs, solving the hardest problems and providing unmatched technical expertise. As the operator of a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC), we are broadly engaged across all aspects of space— delivering innovative solutions that span satellite, launch, ground, and cyber systems for defense, civil and commercial customers. When you join our team, you’ll be part of a special collection of problem solvers, thought leaders, and innovators. Join us and take your place in space.

The Aerospace Corporation is hiring Defensive Cyber Operations Undergrad Interns for the Defensive Cyber Operations section in the Cyber Defense Solutions Department within the Information Systems and Cyber Division (ISCD).  This position will be full-time, 100% onsite at our office in El Segundo, CA

Job Summary

ISCD staff members couple the latest in information system technologies, such as elastic compute clouds, containerization, microservices, real-time operating systems, and visualization frameworks, with expertise in cyber security, software architecture, software engineering, data science, Artificial Intelligence, process improvement, and software development to deliver responsive, resilient, high-performance software intensive systems to our Intelligence Community, DoD, and civilian customers.

Cyber Engineering Interns will join our growing team of cybersecurity engineers who design, implement, and deploy cyber solutions to defend our nation’s most valuable assets in space. We support a variety of customers including the Space Force’s Space Systems Command (SSC), the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), and other civil customers (e.g. NASA) in order to resolve unique challenges in protecting their ground networks and satellite systems from sophisticated adversaries.

What You’ll Be Doing  

• Perform vulnerability assessments of mission systems and provide recommendations on mitigations or improvements.

• Build innovative prototype tools and techniques to improve the cybersecurity posture of mission systems using current technologies such as containerization, cloud infrastructure, and automation.

• Apply security orchestration and cyber deception tools and technologies to measure effectiveness and impact on mission systems.

• Proactively interact with customers by communicating project status, technical findings, and give technical demonstrations.

• Duties, responsibilities and activities may change, or new ones may be assigned as needed.

• Training and mentorship will be provided.

What Corporate Skills You’ll Bring  

• Strong written and oral communication skills  

• Must work well in a team environment.  

• Possess organizational, time management and project management skills.  

• Demonstrate flexibility and ability to adapt to changing organizational need.  

• Interpersonal skills to coordinate efforts and work with other internal and external organizations.  

What You Need to be Successful   

Minimum Requirements  

• Currently enrolled full time at an accredited college/university degree program pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Cybersecurity, or related program

• Availability to work full-time for a minimum of 10 weeks outside of university term and ability to return to a degree program full- time after completion of the internship.

• Minimum GPA 3.0

• Experience with coding in Python, C, or another relevant programming language.

• Experience working in Unix/Linux environments.

• Interest or experience in cybersecurity

• This position requires ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance, which is issued by the US government. U.S citizenship is required to obtain a security clearance.

• Transcripts required.

How You Can Stand Out

It would be impressive if you have one or more of these:

• Security+ or any other security certifications

• Experience with SIEM or SOAR tools.

• Experience with container tools such as Docker or Kubernetes

• Active security clearance

• GPA 3.5 or higher

Temporary housing assistance is not available.

We offer a competitive compensation package where you’ll be rewarded based on your performance and recognized for the value you bring to our business.  The grade-based pay range for this job is listed below.  Individual salaries within that range are determined through a wide variety of facto