Also called: RF Engineer, Satcom Engineer
Designs the radio links that carry internet, TV, phone calls, and data between satellites and Earth.
You calculate whether a signal from 22,000 miles up will be strong enough to get through a rainstorm, then test radio hardware in a lab full of spectrum analyzers. You might help troubleshoot why a ground station in Alaska lost lock.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in electrical engineering with RF/communications coursework.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Electrical Engineering, Physics, Computer Engineering.
Growing faster than average (about 5% over 10 years).
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. AI helps design links and manage beams; hardware testing and solving interference stay human, with satellite internet booming.
Classes: AP Physics, AP Calculus, Electronics class, Computer science.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-2072.
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.