Aerospace engineers typically do the following:

• Direct and coordinate the design, manufacture, and testing of aircraft and aerospace products
• Assess proposals for projects to determine if they are technically and financially feasible
• Determine if proposed projects will result in safe aircraft and parts
• Evaluate designs to see that the products meet engineering principles, customer requirements, and environmental challenges
• Develop acceptance criteria for design methods, quality standards, sustainment after delivery, and completion dates
• Ensure that projects meet quality standards
• Inspect malfunctioning or damaged products to identify sources of problems and possible solutions.

Aerospace engineers may develop new technologies for use in aviation, defense systems, and spacecraft. They often specialize in areas such as aerodynamic fluid flow; structural design; guidance, navigation, and control; instrumentation and communication; robotics; or propulsion and combustion. They can specialize in designing different types of aerospace products, such as commercial and military airplanes and helicopters; remotely piloted aircraft and rotorcraft; spacecraft, including launch vehicles and satellites; and military missiles and rockets. They often become experts in one or more related fields: aerodynamics, thermodynamics, celestial mechanics, flight mechanics, propulsion, acoustics, and guidance and control systems.

Entry-level aerospace engineers usually need a bachelor's degree. High school students interested in studying aerospace engineering should take courses in chemistry, physics, and mathematics, including algebra, trigonometry, and calculus. Bachelor degree programs are designed to take four years and include classroom, laboratory, and field studies in subjects such as general engineering principles, propulsion, stability and control, structures, mechanics, and aerodynamics (which is the study of how air interacts with moving objects). Some colleges and universities offer cooperative programs, in partnership with industry, that give students practical experience while they complete their education. Cooperative programs and internships allow students to get valuable experience and to finance part of their education. At some universities, a student can enroll in a five-year program that leads to both a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree upon completion. A graduate degree will allow an engineer to work as an instructor at a university or to do research and development.

Aerospace engineers work in offices, laboratories, or manufacturing environments for either private companies or the federal government.

The median annual wage of aerospace engineers was $97,480 in May 2010. (The median wage is the wage at which half of the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less.) The lowest 10% earned less than $60,620, and the top 10% earned more than $143,360. Median annual wages in the industries employing the largest numbers of aerospace engineers in May 2010 were as follows:

• federal government - $111,370
• scientific research and development services - $105,470
• navigational, measuring, electromedical and
• control instruments manufacturing - $101,760
• architectural, engineering, and related services - $95,220
• aerospace product and parts manufacturing - $88.340