Everything that flies: airplanes, drones, rockets, satellites, and the spacecraft heading to the Moon and Mars. Space is in a boom right now, with private companies launching more rockets than ever, so there are jobs for engineers and scientists, but also for welders, weather forecasters, lawyers, divers, artists, and the crews who catch rocket boosters at sea.
18 fields, 332 careers
Aircraft Design & Engineering(33): Inventing and perfecting airplanes, helicopters, and air taxis, from the shape of a wing to the screens in the cockpit.
Flight Test & Aviation Operations(22): Flying, testing, maintaining, and protecting aircraft: test pilots, air traffic controllers, crash investigators, mechanics, and the crews…
Aerospace Manufacturing & Test(24): The factories, cleanrooms, and test labs where airplanes, rockets, and satellites are actually built and proven.
Drones & Unmanned Systems(17): Aircraft with no pilot on board, from delivery drones and crop sprayers to light shows, racing, and military reconnaissance.
Spacecraft & Launch Vehicles(26): Designing, building, and testing the rockets that leave Earth and the spacecraft they carry, including the ones that land and fly again.
Rocket Propulsion & Engine Testing(19): The fire part of space: inventing, building, and test-firing rocket engines, fuels, and thrusters.
Launch Range & Spaceport Operations(16): Everything that happens at the launch site: countdowns, range safety, weather calls, fueling, pad crews, and getting boosters back from…
Mission Operations & Mission Control(15): The people in the control rooms who fly spacecraft day and night, from the space station to probes beyond Pluto.
Satellites & Space Communications(21): The thousands of satellites that bring internet, GPS, TV, weather data, and Earth pictures, plus the people and ground stations that run…
Astronauts & Human Spaceflight(20): Sending people to space and keeping them alive and healthy there: the astronauts themselves plus the doctors, suit makers, trainers, and…
Commercial Space & Space Tourism(15): The new space economy: private companies selling launches, space station visits, weightless flights, and trips to the edge of space.
Space Science & Exploration(16): Using spacecraft, telescopes, and returned samples to answer the big questions: how stars live and die, what the Sun does, and how the…
Planetary Science & Astrobiology(15): Exploring other worlds and searching for life: the rocks of Mars, the oceans of icy moons, planets around other stars, and the meteorites…
Space Traffic, Debris & Space Weather(14): Keeping space safe: tracking thousands of satellites and pieces of junk, forecasting solar storms, and defending Earth from asteroids.
Space Law, Policy & Finance(16): The rules and money of space: lawyers, diplomats, insurers, investors, and policy experts who decide who can launch, who pays, and who…
Space Education, Media & Outreach(17): Sharing the wonder of space with everyone: planetariums, museums, journalists, artists, filmmakers, and teachers.
Electric, Hydrogen & Future Flight(11): The next era of flying: electric air taxis, hydrogen and battery airplanes, quieter supersonic jets, and the fuels and landing pads that…
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.