Aerospace engineering is largely about artifacts that fly – airplanes, rockets, satellites, missiles, etc.

It is also about how fluids flow (think about how air flows around a car), about control systems, and about how strong things are (and how to make them strong). Aerospace engineering also deals with how to design things so that they can be reliably built and maintained.

Aerospace engineers design

Aerospace engineers design, develop, and test aircraft, spacecraft, and missiles, and supervise their manufacture. Those who work with aircraft are called aeronautical engineers, and those working specifically with spacecraft are called astronautical engineers.

Aerospace engineers

Aerospace engineers develop new technologies for use in aviation, defense systems, and space exploration, often specializing in areas such as structures, propulsion systems, vehicle movement and control, communications, and overall vehicle design.

They also may specialize in a particular type of aerospace product, such as commercial aircraft, military fighter jets, helicopters, spacecraft, or missiles and rockets, and may become experts in aerodynamics, thermodynamics, celestial mechanics, propulsion, acoustics, or guidance and control systems.