Combines aerodynamics, propulsion, structures and orbital mechanics into a single degree built specifically for aircraft and spacecraft design.
Pay78
Resists AI74
Barrier to entry74
A Aerospace Engineering background connects to 2 professions on this site, ranked by pay. Each card explains why the major still matters for that job.
Where it leads
Vehicle systems, orbital mechanics and failure analysis are the daily substance of training; engineering remains the single most common background across NASA, ESA and China's post-2020 selections.
Pay55
Resists AI74
Barrier to entry99
Where this major is taught
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
United StatesIts Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, founded in 1914, is the oldest of its kind in the US.
Georgia Institute of Technology
United StatesOne of the largest aerospace engineering programs in the US by enrollment, closely tied to nearby Lockheed Martin and Delta operations.
Imperial College London
United KingdomA leading European aeronautics department with a long-running historic wind-tunnel and flight-testing tradition.
Delft University of Technology
NetherlandsRuns one of Europe's largest dedicated aerospace engineering faculties, with its own flight-test aircraft and wind tunnels.
ISAE-SUPAERO
FranceFounded in Toulouse in 1909, among the world's oldest aerospace schools and closely linked to nearby Airbus and Airbus Defence and Space.
Moscow Aviation Institute
RussiaThe Soviet Union's flagship aerospace engineering school since 1930, feeding both military aviation bureaus and the Russian space program.
Beihang University
ChinaChina's leading aerospace university, founded in 1952 as Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, feeding both civil and military programs.
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
IndiaIts aerospace engineering department is a major feeder of engineers into ISRO, India's space agency.
United States Naval Academy
United StatesMore astronaut alumni than any other US institution — over fifty, including Alan Shepard and Jim Lovell — via the naval aviation and test-pilot pipeline.
Purdue University
United StatesThe self-styled "Cradle of Astronauts": more than 25 astronaut alumni, including the first and last people to walk on the Moon, Neil Armstrong and Eugene Cernan.
University of Tokyo
JapanIts aeronautics department trained JAXA astronauts including three-flight veteran Soichi Noguchi and Naoko Yamazaki; the standard academic gateway to Japan's corps.
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
GermanyWhere ESA's Alexander Gerst — volcano geophysicist turned two-mission ISS commander — took his geophysics degree before the 2009 ESA selection.
Credentials on this path
Professional Engineer (PE), aerospace discipline
United StatesA state-issued license available in aerospace, but rarely pursued in practice — most aerospace engineers don't need it, since their work isn't legally required to be signed by a licensed PE the way a civil engineer's public-facing designs are.
FAA Designated Engineering Representative (DER)
United StatesAn engineer personally authorized by the Federal Aviation Administration to approve specific categories of aircraft design data on the agency's behalf, a significant credential inside aviation certification work.
Chartered Engineer (CEng)
United Kingdom / CommonwealthAwarded by the Royal Aeronautical Society to engineers with several years of responsible experience, recognized across much of the Commonwealth as a mark of professional standing rather than a legal requirement to work.
European Engineer (EUR ING)
European UnionA cross-border professional title awarded by FEANI, the European engineering federation, to engineers who meet a shared minimum standard of education and experience recognized across EU member states.
NASA astronaut selection
United StatesRequires US citizenship, a STEM master's degree (or MD, test-pilot school, or doctoral progress), professional experience or 1,000 jet pilot-in-command hours, and passing the NASA long-duration flight astronaut physical. Roughly every four years; 10 chosen from over 12,000 in 2021.
ESA astronaut selection
EuropeOpen to citizens of ESA member states roughly once a decade. The 2021–22 campaign drew 22,523 applications and produced 5 career astronauts, 11 reserves and 1 parastronaut through six elimination stages, from cognitive batteries to medical boards at Cologne.
Roscosmos cosmonaut selection
RussiaRun through the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center at Star City, open since 2012 to civilian engineers as well as military pilots. Candidates must pass the state medical commission and years of examinations before earning the title of cosmonaut.
China Manned Space Agency selection
ChinaBatches selected since 1998, originally only PLA fighter pilots; the third and fourth batches added civilian flight engineers and payload specialists, with the 2024 round including candidates from Hong Kong and Macau for the first time.