Also called: Thermal Control Engineer
Keeps spacecraft from frying in sunlight or freezing in shadow, where temperatures swing hundreds of degrees.
You decide where to put gold foil blankets, radiators, and tiny heaters so a camera stays at the right temperature. Then you watch a thermal-vacuum test where the spacecraft sits in a giant cold, airless chamber for weeks.
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 mechanical or aerospace engineering.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering.
Growing much faster than average (about 9% over 10 years). Uses BLS mechanical engineers projection.
Medium risk for 10 years. AI surrogate models speed thermal analysis; thermal-vacuum testing and design trade-offs stay human.
Classes: AP Physics, AP Calculus, Chemistry, Computer science.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-2141.
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.