Also called: Hypersonic Vehicle Engineer
Works on aircraft and missiles that fly more than five times the speed of sound.
You study how air turns into glowing plasma around a vehicle at Mach 7, design heat-resistant shapes, and analyze results from shock-tunnel tests that last milliseconds. Much of the work is classified and happens in secure buildings.
Security clearance usually required.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Master's degree, about 6 years after high school. Master's or PhD in aerospace engineering.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $60k – $150k.
Majors to look at: Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics.
Growing faster than average (about 6% over 10 years). Aerospace engineers overall; hypersonics is a top defense priority.
Low risk for 10 years. AI speeds hard simulations; building and testing in shock tunnels and flight tests stays human in a growing defense field.
Classes: AP Physics C, AP Calculus, AP Chemistry, Computer science.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-2011.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.