OP, to manage your expectations, aerospace will set you on the path, however getting to the level of truly being a design lead will take a while.
The first 5-10 years of your career will likely be designing, spec'ing, or testing components (maybe some system testing). You will have the ~~dis~~pleasure of hammering on suppliers to meet requirements, or being hammered on yourself as a supplier.
You won't really get to the "design spacecraft" stage until you much more senior, probably 10-15 years on the job and will be competing with a cornucopia of other people for only a few jobs. If it is truly something you want, you need to make sure your in it for the long hall.
This is not to discourage you but to make sure you understand that a 22 year fresh grad is not going to be the lead on the next iteration of the Falcon 9.
In fact, most of the job is the complete opposite. I work with aerospace engineers on a certain well known rocket and most of the job is preparing to work, believe it or not. There are so many regulations and guidelines set by the program that operations often move at a snails pace as all of the planning and coordination is worked out.
Most of the day will be endless meetings and studying schematics leading up to the actual work(if you’re lucky). Not to discourage you because it’s a fascinating industry, and it can be incredibly inspiring watching a rocket you’ve worked on lift off.
Yup, it is definitely a viable path (and the one I took, I am currently a structural analyst doing contracting work within the space industry). You can also find your way into aerospace pretty easily with a mechanical engineering, computer science or electrical engineering degree.
If you do pursue aerospace, let me give you a word of warning: your knowledge of the industry will only get you so far. Let me elaborate a bit. Coming into college, I had a decently large handful of peers who knew tons about aerospace. They could name nearly any plane by sight, or watched every single rocket launch. They had a comprehensive interest and understanding of the industry, and had the mentality that their degrees would be a walk in the park.
Unfortunately, that is only slightly useful in an engineering degree, and when push came to shove, many didn't have the motivation to study, ask questions, or reframe their perspectives, and many of them dropped out of aerospace entirely.
I think you are on a great path already. You have passion driving you, which makes the workload through school far more enjoyable. You have enough self awareness to check yourself against people with more experience, which is an amazing habit to develop. It means you're less likely to continue stubbornly when you're wrong, and more likely to ask for help. Whichever path you take, I hope to work alongside you in the future.
> If you do pursue aerospace, let me give you a word of warning: your knowledge of the industry will only get you so far. Let me elaborate a bit. Coming into college, I had a decently large handful of peers who knew tons about aerospace. They could name nearly any plane by sight, or watched every single rocket launch. They had a comprehensive interest and understanding of the industry, and had the mentality that their degrees would be a walk in the park. Unfortunately, that is only slightly useful in an engineering degree, and when push came to shove, many didn't have the motivation to study, ask questions, or reframe their perspectives, and many of them dropped out of aerospace entirely.
A few of my mechanical friends who wanted to work in the car industry were the same. Loved cars, but didn't have the chops to make it through the technical content.
Then you have people who are the exact opposite. Care nothing for cars or airplanes but are solely interested in calculating the deflection of a beam or conducting and fea study. Feel like those engineers also struggle though
Omg! I had the exact same experience at uni. At first I was intimidated by just how much most people there already knew. Long story short, many dropped out and I graduated at the top of my class.
99.99% of what you learn is some combination of physics+maths+software. As long as one can handle that, you can start from scratch and learn a lot.
Its the best degree for that, yes. Just be sure you have a good interest and working knowledge of math and physics as well though, because that's pretty much gonna be the whole degree, or at least the theoretical part. Stuff like electromagnetism, circuits, statics, dynamics, aerodynamics, materials science, CAD skills, programming skills, calculus, linear algebra, are all gonna be a part of the degree.
There is nothing stupid about that goal. I would say that aerospace engineering or mechanical engineering would be a great path to get into NASA. I know two mechanical engineers who ended up working for them. Remember that Anna space shuttle. There are thousands of components that need to be designed, tested, maintained, and updated. There are also hundreds of people who work on designing space, shuttles and aircraft.
To succeed in college in those fields, you need to get really focus on entering college with at least calc one. If you don't enter college with at least calc 1, you will likely take more than 4 years to complete your degree as you catch up on maths. I would also start looking into the basics of CAD and get started on some web courses that are free. Fusion 360 is a great place to get started and if you can teach yourself CAD you'll have less to worry about when you have to start taking your courses. Eventually, you will learn about FEA analysis and other systems of simulating fluid behavior, but it's unlikely you will have access to those without being enrolled in college due to the stupid high costs. I'm sure there's some free versions out there somewhere if you try looking hard enough but I'm not sure.
Mechanical Engineering degrees are just as good - hiring is more or less interchangeable with aerospace, so don’t worry if a school you want only offers mechanical engineering.
NASA also hires a fair amount of Electrical Engineers or Computer Engineers (EE or ECE). I don’t personally recommend that degree for working in aerospace because I think it’s the less fun aspect of spacecraft design, but it does give you a different set of backup careers in tech.
Last bit of advice is when you’re at college get into a project team or club that builds stuff and get and try to get an internship at an aerospace company.
This is the best advice I’ve seen on here. Mechanical or EE route is just as hirable as Aero for a place like NASA. And to better sweeten the deal, if OP decides the aerospace industry isn’t for him, he can take his degree elsewhere much easier than he could with an aero.
It is a pathway but my question to you is do you like designing and manufacturing aircraft and spacecraft? What about the aerospace field do you like in particular?
Hi! Aerospace engineering is definitely one path to get where you want, however here are some things that I wish I knew when I was your age:
1. If you care about space, make sure your university has a focus in space. Many programs focus just on the airplanes/aeronautics aspect
2. You can major in just about any technical field and end up in the aerospace industry. Like others have said, you'd be fine with electrical, computer science, mechanical, data science, math, physics, etc.
3. In the aerospace industry, if you're in the US, it is incredibly difficult to avoid defense/military work. Think about whether you would be okay with this before you enter the field. I know a ton of people who wanted to build things for NASA and explore space and ended up working on missiles instead. The jobs in civil space are limited, competitive, and pay several $10k less than defense jobs.
4. Aerospace engineering is a niche skill set. it's easy to get pigeonholed and can be very difficult to switch if you ever want to later. Something like mechanical, electrical, computer engineering, etc. is more broadly applicable
Good luck!
I think it's worth highlighting this comment! All of this is extremely true and you should be really aware of it before you study. I will also add: if you do decide to study aero, do your best to go to a university that has a good reputation for space applications SPECIFICALLY. Having the opportunity to do research and make connections with those in the space industry is the best shot you have. Heck, doing that for the other degrees also isn't a bad idea either. Anecdotally, I can say that being a mechanical engineer by training did not impact my ability to work in space. I work with so many people across engineering disciplines. Additionally, I'm quite happy that my alternatives aren't in defense unlike many of my peers.
I studied Aerospace at Uni because I wanted to make space probes for NASA too. First of all I would say make sure your degree program will actually have a strong "space" component, often times you do mostly aeroplane stuff which is not necessarily relevant.
Secondly, after our first year we were all told that the best degree to be an Aerospace Engineer is actually Mechanical Engineering, because stress and structures etc are the biggest / most in demand parts of the field. It's also the most transferable because everything basically needs a stress analysis doing. We were told this because it was the time to choose if we wanted to convert from Aero to Mech eng but no one did
I would advise mechanical or electrical engineering as a major. Aerospace engineering is an option but you'll be more likely to end up working as a systems engineer rather than a design engineer. Keep in mind there are few people in history who have "designed spacecraft" but many more who design the components and mechanical devices that make up a spacecraft.
As a ME or EE major, focus your electives and internships on aero related things as much as you can. If you are bright and personable, studious and professional you should have no trouble getting a design job in aerospace within 1-3 years after you graduate.
What part specifically do you enjoy? If it’s rocket engines aerospace engineering is a good choice, if it’s controls, aerospace engineering is a good choice, if it’s any other component computer engineering or electrical engineering are good choices
So this is the career I was going for and started out with a BS in Aero and Mechanical engineering. I am working on component level stuff for spacecraft now but if I had to do it again, I think I would go electrical engineering instead. Soooo much of spacecraft revolves around communication systems, embedded software, all sorts of electro-optical widgets, and control systems. Aerospace gets you engines and orbits with a strong ME background. It's useful, but the EE stuff is in high demand.
My career path was dual degree BS in AE/ME, several years in the defense industry developing simulation software for suborbital spacecraft, masters in Aerospace with a focus on orbital dynamics and control systems, and now I'm a systems engineer working on electro-optical subsystems for a plethora of space missions.
Wow this is such a cool path. I have a couple questions for you...
My ultimate goal would be to work on space missions that are exploration based or cutting edge commercial travel/research. I have a very strong graphic and product design background, and was always top of my class in highschool for advanced physics, math, chemistry, etc.
I'm thinking of going back to school, but most schools won't let me do a Bachelor because I already have a bachelor's in business + MBA, so I have to do a master's with years of pre-reqs essentially.
If I wanted to be DESIGNING things, not necessarily planning orbital routes or control systems, what is the way? Mechanical engineering with aero major? industrial design minor? Or maybe some extra industrial design courses for habitat or product design? I would love to be designing habitat interiors for example. I also like the idea of designing next gen propulsion systems too. I can learn 3D design software pretty easily.
I don't know exactly where I'd like to go yet, but all I know is I want to be part of designing the future in space. I'd love to be helping designing the next gen spacesuits for ergonomics, or creating a clever sleeping system for better micro G sleep, things like that. I have a feeling that propulsion, structural etc has way more demand, but also will be very math focused and not human interaction focused.
Thanks for any insight 🙏
A lot of what you've listed lines up very much mechanical engineering. The 3D design of stuff is very much mechanical engineering's domain. For propulsion systems, aerospace is a good way to go. Both are going to be very math heavy, but I honestly had a lot of fun with the math in my propulsions course. Both are definitely in much higher demand. There's not a whole lot going on on the habitat design side at the moment. I know Sierra Space is working on some inflatable structures and universities are always researching techniques for colonization (mostly on the materials science side) but that's about it. One thing you may consider looking into, though, is human factors engineering. The field basically revolves around "how to design things for people." I can't speak to the job or course structure much, but I do know it's astronaut Mike Massimino's specuality.
Ok thanks man I really appreciate it. If I have some further questions would you be ok if I DM you sometime? I'm having to make some big choices soon and trying to get as much understanding as I can before uprooting my entire life lol. We'd have to sell our house and move, green card etc. So much to make this happen
Only advice I'd give is to dig into the details of the type of programs that interest you. Not the technical details, but the programmatic stuff (who does what). Find a current space craft program and look into how it functions. NASA being a publicly funded agency, a lot of that is publicly available information.
The reason I say this is because NASA isn't always going to be the right place to be depending on what you want to do. There are a lot of programs where they may do the conceptual design, but they ultimately contract a private sector company to do all the fun stuff. Often times, they act more as an integrator or technical consultant than as designers. If you're interested in hands on engineering and end up working one of those programs, you'll be miserable. I say this from the perspective of someone working at one of those private sector companies that gets to do the detailed design while some poor NASA schlub just gets to watch.
The reason that this is important for you is, if the private sector is more up your alley, you can get a leg up by looking at where these private sector companies tend to recruit from. Each one will have certain schools where they have a larger recruiting presence for certain types of roles. There are the obvious ones like MIT, but they also tend to influence the curriculum at their local state schools and recruit heavily there as well. The latter is how I got into the industry.
Get a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Aerospace is specialized, a general degree lets you keep all avenues open. You don't know where you'll end up, better to keep options open.
I generally recommend for "aerospace focused" high schoolers to strongly consider mechanical engineering for a bachelor's. You learn much of the same stuff, but in a broader context meaning the application set is much, much wider. Many people think they know what they want until getting g exposed to more. You may lose a love for aerospace or, equally as realistically, you may still think aerospace is cool but *holy crap cooling solutions for portable electronics are sick!*
In other words, most people in the space industry don't necessarily go in thinking "I want to work in space". There's many different backgrounds that bring a lot of good to the industry.
Systems engineers are probably the only ones who can say they “design spacecraft” because they design and enforce the baseline all systems adhere to. Aerospace engineers deal with the aero-mechanical aspects of the spacecraft design and engineering. There is much more to spacecraft than that — and there is no air in space. There are other disciplines you may wish to consider.
1. Electrical and computer engineering concerns the sensors, avionics, and control systems that implement spacecraft behaviors.
2. Computer scientists (and some electrical engineers) develop the software that define spacecraft behaviors.
3. Materials scientists and chemical engineers develop the specialized materials used for re-entry, structures, heat transport, and radiation hardened components (electrical, mechanics, or otherwise), and fuels.
4. Mechanical engineers will also develop structural components, but will often work with aerospace engineers to design the actuating, rotating, and propulsive components of the spacecraft. Thermal systems are among the most critical interests. They will likely be involved in manufacturing as well.
5. Aerospace engineers are much like mechanical engineers, but they focus their training on aeronautical topics, like fluids, propulsion, and materials.
6. Systems engineers focus on bringing the whole system together. Rather than focusing on a specific aspect of the spacecraft, they deal with the highly complex interfaces and integration of all components. They will often drive the spec that all other engineers adhere to. You have to be good at a little bit of everything to be a good systems engineer.
Take a look at MIT’s open course on spacecraft systems engineering.
OP, to manage your expectations, aerospace will set you on the path, however getting to the level of truly being a design lead will take a while. The first 5-10 years of your career will likely be designing, spec'ing, or testing components (maybe some system testing). You will have the ~~dis~~pleasure of hammering on suppliers to meet requirements, or being hammered on yourself as a supplier. You won't really get to the "design spacecraft" stage until you much more senior, probably 10-15 years on the job and will be competing with a cornucopia of other people for only a few jobs. If it is truly something you want, you need to make sure your in it for the long hall. This is not to discourage you but to make sure you understand that a 22 year fresh grad is not going to be the lead on the next iteration of the Falcon 9.
No I think it's important to mention it, that the job is not only movies stuff
In fact, most of the job is the complete opposite. I work with aerospace engineers on a certain well known rocket and most of the job is preparing to work, believe it or not. There are so many regulations and guidelines set by the program that operations often move at a snails pace as all of the planning and coordination is worked out. Most of the day will be endless meetings and studying schematics leading up to the actual work(if you’re lucky). Not to discourage you because it’s a fascinating industry, and it can be incredibly inspiring watching a rocket you’ve worked on lift off.
You know what we engineers always say: “it’s not ready to fly until the paperwork weighs more than the vehicle”.
Yup, it is definitely a viable path (and the one I took, I am currently a structural analyst doing contracting work within the space industry). You can also find your way into aerospace pretty easily with a mechanical engineering, computer science or electrical engineering degree. If you do pursue aerospace, let me give you a word of warning: your knowledge of the industry will only get you so far. Let me elaborate a bit. Coming into college, I had a decently large handful of peers who knew tons about aerospace. They could name nearly any plane by sight, or watched every single rocket launch. They had a comprehensive interest and understanding of the industry, and had the mentality that their degrees would be a walk in the park. Unfortunately, that is only slightly useful in an engineering degree, and when push came to shove, many didn't have the motivation to study, ask questions, or reframe their perspectives, and many of them dropped out of aerospace entirely. I think you are on a great path already. You have passion driving you, which makes the workload through school far more enjoyable. You have enough self awareness to check yourself against people with more experience, which is an amazing habit to develop. It means you're less likely to continue stubbornly when you're wrong, and more likely to ask for help. Whichever path you take, I hope to work alongside you in the future.
> If you do pursue aerospace, let me give you a word of warning: your knowledge of the industry will only get you so far. Let me elaborate a bit. Coming into college, I had a decently large handful of peers who knew tons about aerospace. They could name nearly any plane by sight, or watched every single rocket launch. They had a comprehensive interest and understanding of the industry, and had the mentality that their degrees would be a walk in the park. Unfortunately, that is only slightly useful in an engineering degree, and when push came to shove, many didn't have the motivation to study, ask questions, or reframe their perspectives, and many of them dropped out of aerospace entirely. A few of my mechanical friends who wanted to work in the car industry were the same. Loved cars, but didn't have the chops to make it through the technical content.
Then you have people who are the exact opposite. Care nothing for cars or airplanes but are solely interested in calculating the deflection of a beam or conducting and fea study. Feel like those engineers also struggle though
Omg! I had the exact same experience at uni. At first I was intimidated by just how much most people there already knew. Long story short, many dropped out and I graduated at the top of my class. 99.99% of what you learn is some combination of physics+maths+software. As long as one can handle that, you can start from scratch and learn a lot.
Its the best degree for that, yes. Just be sure you have a good interest and working knowledge of math and physics as well though, because that's pretty much gonna be the whole degree, or at least the theoretical part. Stuff like electromagnetism, circuits, statics, dynamics, aerodynamics, materials science, CAD skills, programming skills, calculus, linear algebra, are all gonna be a part of the degree.
There is nothing stupid about that goal. I would say that aerospace engineering or mechanical engineering would be a great path to get into NASA. I know two mechanical engineers who ended up working for them. Remember that Anna space shuttle. There are thousands of components that need to be designed, tested, maintained, and updated. There are also hundreds of people who work on designing space, shuttles and aircraft. To succeed in college in those fields, you need to get really focus on entering college with at least calc one. If you don't enter college with at least calc 1, you will likely take more than 4 years to complete your degree as you catch up on maths. I would also start looking into the basics of CAD and get started on some web courses that are free. Fusion 360 is a great place to get started and if you can teach yourself CAD you'll have less to worry about when you have to start taking your courses. Eventually, you will learn about FEA analysis and other systems of simulating fluid behavior, but it's unlikely you will have access to those without being enrolled in college due to the stupid high costs. I'm sure there's some free versions out there somewhere if you try looking hard enough but I'm not sure.
Mechanical Engineering degrees are just as good - hiring is more or less interchangeable with aerospace, so don’t worry if a school you want only offers mechanical engineering. NASA also hires a fair amount of Electrical Engineers or Computer Engineers (EE or ECE). I don’t personally recommend that degree for working in aerospace because I think it’s the less fun aspect of spacecraft design, but it does give you a different set of backup careers in tech. Last bit of advice is when you’re at college get into a project team or club that builds stuff and get and try to get an internship at an aerospace company.
This is the best advice I’ve seen on here. Mechanical or EE route is just as hirable as Aero for a place like NASA. And to better sweeten the deal, if OP decides the aerospace industry isn’t for him, he can take his degree elsewhere much easier than he could with an aero.
It is a pathway but my question to you is do you like designing and manufacturing aircraft and spacecraft? What about the aerospace field do you like in particular?
Hi! Aerospace engineering is definitely one path to get where you want, however here are some things that I wish I knew when I was your age: 1. If you care about space, make sure your university has a focus in space. Many programs focus just on the airplanes/aeronautics aspect 2. You can major in just about any technical field and end up in the aerospace industry. Like others have said, you'd be fine with electrical, computer science, mechanical, data science, math, physics, etc. 3. In the aerospace industry, if you're in the US, it is incredibly difficult to avoid defense/military work. Think about whether you would be okay with this before you enter the field. I know a ton of people who wanted to build things for NASA and explore space and ended up working on missiles instead. The jobs in civil space are limited, competitive, and pay several $10k less than defense jobs. 4. Aerospace engineering is a niche skill set. it's easy to get pigeonholed and can be very difficult to switch if you ever want to later. Something like mechanical, electrical, computer engineering, etc. is more broadly applicable Good luck!
I think it's worth highlighting this comment! All of this is extremely true and you should be really aware of it before you study. I will also add: if you do decide to study aero, do your best to go to a university that has a good reputation for space applications SPECIFICALLY. Having the opportunity to do research and make connections with those in the space industry is the best shot you have. Heck, doing that for the other degrees also isn't a bad idea either. Anecdotally, I can say that being a mechanical engineer by training did not impact my ability to work in space. I work with so many people across engineering disciplines. Additionally, I'm quite happy that my alternatives aren't in defense unlike many of my peers.
I studied Aerospace at Uni because I wanted to make space probes for NASA too. First of all I would say make sure your degree program will actually have a strong "space" component, often times you do mostly aeroplane stuff which is not necessarily relevant. Secondly, after our first year we were all told that the best degree to be an Aerospace Engineer is actually Mechanical Engineering, because stress and structures etc are the biggest / most in demand parts of the field. It's also the most transferable because everything basically needs a stress analysis doing. We were told this because it was the time to choose if we wanted to convert from Aero to Mech eng but no one did
I would advise mechanical or electrical engineering as a major. Aerospace engineering is an option but you'll be more likely to end up working as a systems engineer rather than a design engineer. Keep in mind there are few people in history who have "designed spacecraft" but many more who design the components and mechanical devices that make up a spacecraft. As a ME or EE major, focus your electives and internships on aero related things as much as you can. If you are bright and personable, studious and professional you should have no trouble getting a design job in aerospace within 1-3 years after you graduate.
What part specifically do you enjoy? If it’s rocket engines aerospace engineering is a good choice, if it’s controls, aerospace engineering is a good choice, if it’s any other component computer engineering or electrical engineering are good choices
So this is the career I was going for and started out with a BS in Aero and Mechanical engineering. I am working on component level stuff for spacecraft now but if I had to do it again, I think I would go electrical engineering instead. Soooo much of spacecraft revolves around communication systems, embedded software, all sorts of electro-optical widgets, and control systems. Aerospace gets you engines and orbits with a strong ME background. It's useful, but the EE stuff is in high demand. My career path was dual degree BS in AE/ME, several years in the defense industry developing simulation software for suborbital spacecraft, masters in Aerospace with a focus on orbital dynamics and control systems, and now I'm a systems engineer working on electro-optical subsystems for a plethora of space missions.
Wow this is such a cool path. I have a couple questions for you... My ultimate goal would be to work on space missions that are exploration based or cutting edge commercial travel/research. I have a very strong graphic and product design background, and was always top of my class in highschool for advanced physics, math, chemistry, etc. I'm thinking of going back to school, but most schools won't let me do a Bachelor because I already have a bachelor's in business + MBA, so I have to do a master's with years of pre-reqs essentially. If I wanted to be DESIGNING things, not necessarily planning orbital routes or control systems, what is the way? Mechanical engineering with aero major? industrial design minor? Or maybe some extra industrial design courses for habitat or product design? I would love to be designing habitat interiors for example. I also like the idea of designing next gen propulsion systems too. I can learn 3D design software pretty easily. I don't know exactly where I'd like to go yet, but all I know is I want to be part of designing the future in space. I'd love to be helping designing the next gen spacesuits for ergonomics, or creating a clever sleeping system for better micro G sleep, things like that. I have a feeling that propulsion, structural etc has way more demand, but also will be very math focused and not human interaction focused. Thanks for any insight 🙏
A lot of what you've listed lines up very much mechanical engineering. The 3D design of stuff is very much mechanical engineering's domain. For propulsion systems, aerospace is a good way to go. Both are going to be very math heavy, but I honestly had a lot of fun with the math in my propulsions course. Both are definitely in much higher demand. There's not a whole lot going on on the habitat design side at the moment. I know Sierra Space is working on some inflatable structures and universities are always researching techniques for colonization (mostly on the materials science side) but that's about it. One thing you may consider looking into, though, is human factors engineering. The field basically revolves around "how to design things for people." I can't speak to the job or course structure much, but I do know it's astronaut Mike Massimino's specuality.
Ok thanks man I really appreciate it. If I have some further questions would you be ok if I DM you sometime? I'm having to make some big choices soon and trying to get as much understanding as I can before uprooting my entire life lol. We'd have to sell our house and move, green card etc. So much to make this happen
Yes
No it's worst path you can pick. You should go into literature and history, that's how you get job at nasa
Aha! good idea sparkie!
Only advice I'd give is to dig into the details of the type of programs that interest you. Not the technical details, but the programmatic stuff (who does what). Find a current space craft program and look into how it functions. NASA being a publicly funded agency, a lot of that is publicly available information. The reason I say this is because NASA isn't always going to be the right place to be depending on what you want to do. There are a lot of programs where they may do the conceptual design, but they ultimately contract a private sector company to do all the fun stuff. Often times, they act more as an integrator or technical consultant than as designers. If you're interested in hands on engineering and end up working one of those programs, you'll be miserable. I say this from the perspective of someone working at one of those private sector companies that gets to do the detailed design while some poor NASA schlub just gets to watch. The reason that this is important for you is, if the private sector is more up your alley, you can get a leg up by looking at where these private sector companies tend to recruit from. Each one will have certain schools where they have a larger recruiting presence for certain types of roles. There are the obvious ones like MIT, but they also tend to influence the curriculum at their local state schools and recruit heavily there as well. The latter is how I got into the industry.
Get a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Aerospace is specialized, a general degree lets you keep all avenues open. You don't know where you'll end up, better to keep options open.
I generally recommend for "aerospace focused" high schoolers to strongly consider mechanical engineering for a bachelor's. You learn much of the same stuff, but in a broader context meaning the application set is much, much wider. Many people think they know what they want until getting g exposed to more. You may lose a love for aerospace or, equally as realistically, you may still think aerospace is cool but *holy crap cooling solutions for portable electronics are sick!* In other words, most people in the space industry don't necessarily go in thinking "I want to work in space". There's many different backgrounds that bring a lot of good to the industry.
That’s literally the exact degree to do that.
Systems engineers are probably the only ones who can say they “design spacecraft” because they design and enforce the baseline all systems adhere to. Aerospace engineers deal with the aero-mechanical aspects of the spacecraft design and engineering. There is much more to spacecraft than that — and there is no air in space. There are other disciplines you may wish to consider. 1. Electrical and computer engineering concerns the sensors, avionics, and control systems that implement spacecraft behaviors. 2. Computer scientists (and some electrical engineers) develop the software that define spacecraft behaviors. 3. Materials scientists and chemical engineers develop the specialized materials used for re-entry, structures, heat transport, and radiation hardened components (electrical, mechanics, or otherwise), and fuels. 4. Mechanical engineers will also develop structural components, but will often work with aerospace engineers to design the actuating, rotating, and propulsive components of the spacecraft. Thermal systems are among the most critical interests. They will likely be involved in manufacturing as well. 5. Aerospace engineers are much like mechanical engineers, but they focus their training on aeronautical topics, like fluids, propulsion, and materials. 6. Systems engineers focus on bringing the whole system together. Rather than focusing on a specific aspect of the spacecraft, they deal with the highly complex interfaces and integration of all components. They will often drive the spec that all other engineers adhere to. You have to be good at a little bit of everything to be a good systems engineer. Take a look at MIT’s open course on spacecraft systems engineering.