Also called: Collision Avoidance Analyst
Decides whether two objects in orbit might collide and whether a satellite needs to dodge.
You get an alert that a piece of debris will pass within 200 meters of your satellite in two days. You calculate the probability of collision and recommend whether to fire thrusters.
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 aerospace engineering or physics.
Ways in: 4-year college. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Aerospace Engineering, Physics.
Growing faster than average. Small, fast-growing field as low Earth orbit gets crowded; not tracked separately by BLS.
Medium risk in 5 years, high in 10. Automated screening now sorts most collision risks, leaving few analyst seats; final dodge decisions on tough cases stay human.
Classes: AP Physics, AP Statistics, Computer science, AP Calculus.
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.