Also called: Electrical Power Subsystem Engineer
Designs the solar arrays, batteries, and wiring that keep a spacecraft alive.
You calculate exactly how much power the spacecraft will have in every part of its orbit, including the dark minutes behind Earth. You test battery cells, review wiring diagrams, and sit in on solar array deployment tests.
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.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering.
Growing faster than average (about 7% over 10 years).
Medium risk for 10 years. AI helps size arrays and batteries; building and testing real power hardware stays human.
Classes: AP Physics, Electronics class, AP Calculus, Chemistry.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-2071.
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.