Interested In A Career In Aerospace?
By Vik Kachoria | August 10, 2011
Are you interested in a future career in aerospace? Would you like to design and build planes, rockets, satellites, space exploration vehicles or be involved in the missions? Where do you start and what do you need to do to be at the cutting edge of science and technology?
I’m probably a bit biased, but I think a career in aerospace is one of the most exciting and most challenging paths you can take. Aerospace is not just about planes and rockets, it is the culmination of every bit of human knowledge we have today to create amazing solutions to incredibly challenging problems - aviation and space exploration. It truly is the ‘new frontier’.
Designing the next generation of space vehicle obviously requires a lot of science & engineering including math, physics, chemistry, optics, computer science, material science, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, graphic design, propulsion and telecommunications. It also requires a tremendous amount of business, legal and financial skills to even consider such a complex project.
What ever your academic interests and skills, there are plenty of opportunities and roles in aerospace.
Eager to start your aerospace career? I bet you have a lot of questions like where to being, what will you do, how hard is it, where would you live, who would you work for and probably a dozen more. There are a lot of people that would be happy to give you some thoughts. Be sure to ask your guidance counselers and career advisors. But definitely seek out people that currently work in aerospace companies. They are going to be the ones that can give you a lot of insight about the rewards and challenges of working in the aerospace field.
Also, be sure to post your questions here on this blog.
Why you should consider a career in aerospace?
- Excitement & challenge
- Leading edge of technology
- Change the world
- Pinnacle of human knowledge
What are the major projects in aerospace? There are so many aspects of aerospace, here are just a few of the sectors.
- Aviation
- Commerical jets
- Military jets
- UAV (unmanned aerial vehicles
- Satellites
- Communications
- Remote sensing
- GPS
- Spy satellites
- Space observatories
- Homeland Security
- Missile defense
- Space Exploration
- Moon & Mars base
- Planetary probes
- Asteroid probes
- New Space
- Sub-orbital tourism
- Orbital hotels
- Space laboratories
- Rocket designers & builders
- Solar-power satellites
- Asteroid mining
What should your college major be? If you want to be involved in the actual engineering of new planes or space craft, you have to get a degree in science, engineering or math. If you want to help manage a mission or project, you might consider majoring in business or get a law degree.
- Aerospace, electrical, mechnical, software, computer engineering
- Physics, astrophysics, orbital mechanics
- Mathematics, statistics
- Material science, optics, robotics
- Biology, medicine, psychology
- Management, finance, operations, marketing
- Legal, international relations, government
What aerospace companies could you work for? Aerospace companies tend to be really large companies called ‘primes’ and ‘sub-primes’. These companies are the ones that build commerical jets, military craft, International Space Station, and major communication satellites.
- NASA
- Department of Defense
- Boeing
- Lockhead Martin
- Northrup Grummun
- Raytheon
- Orbital Sciences
Who else is doing exciting aerospace work? There are a number of ‘NewSpace’ companies that are in the process of designing and building their own rockets, satellites or jets. Take a look at a few of these companies:
- SpaceX
- XCOR
- Blue Origin
- Eclipse
- Icon Aircraft
Be sure to ask questions and get the answers you need.
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