Also called: Plasma Propulsion Engineer, Hall Thruster Engineer
Builds ion and plasma thrusters that push spacecraft with electricity instead of fire, gently but for years.
You run a thruster inside a vacuum chamber where it glows blue for thousands of hours to test its lifetime. Your work powers satellites that steer themselves and probes that travel to asteroids.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Doctorate (PhD), about 9 years after high school. Many hold a master's or PhD in aerospace engineering or plasma physics.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Aerospace Engineering, Physics, Electrical Engineering.
Growing faster than average (about 6% over 10 years). Part of BLS aerospace engineers category.
Low risk for 10 years. AI helps simulate plasma; building thrusters and running long vacuum-chamber tests stays hands-on research.
Classes: AP Physics C, AP Chemistry, AP Calculus, Electronics class.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-2011.
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