Also called: Safety & Mission Assurance Engineer
Acts as an independent watchdog making sure a rocket or spacecraft is truly ready to fly.
You review test failures, attend design reviews asking hard questions, and sign the readiness review before launch. Your job is to say "stop" when something isn't right, even under schedule pressure.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in engineering plus experience.
Ways in: 4-year college. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering.
Growing faster than average (about 6% over 10 years). Aerospace engineers overall.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. AI checks paperwork and test data; independent judgment about flight readiness stays human.
Classes: AP Physics, Statistics, English composition, Speech or debate.
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.