Launching Your Career In Astronautical Engineering: Tips and Recommendations

Fascinated by space and satellites? Aspire to a career in the field? The first step, of course, is to gain an education with the right credentials – such as an astronautical engineering degree from Capitol Technology University. But what about the next step? What needs to be done in order to get your career off the launch pad?

We asked Dr. Alex “Sandy” Antunes, associate professor of astronautical engineering at Capitol. He’s mentored dozens of students and seen their careers progress, starting from entry level flight ops positions to higher-level roles in administration. While no one formula works the same way for everyone, Antunes says, most astronautical engineering career paths involve the following steps.

• Obtain hands-on experience. Understanding theory is good. Being able to apply it is even better. Capitol provides abundant real-time experience to students in the form of projects such as the CACTUS-1 CubeSat mission. That practical experience adds up to greater hireability, Antunes says. “Employers know they won’t have to spend three to six months getting their new employee up to speed.”
• Build your network. Many, if not most, career opportunities in the field come about as a result of contacts and connections.  At Capitol, astronautical engineering students benefit from the university’s close connections with NASA and private contractors. “We have built a really strong network in this field” Antunes says. “As a result, we have students who are placed in internships that are not announced to the general public. We have people on our advisory board who visit campus regularly to tell us about job openings. Many of our faculty come from NASA-Goddard or from local contractors, and they can help students identify the best avenues for their careers.”
• Take advantage of internships. “These allow you to ‘try before you buy’ and get a clear idea of what a specific type of job entails on a day to day basis,” notes Antunes. “Without internship experience it can be hard to know exactly what the best fit is for you.” Internships also enable students to make contacts within organizations and build their networks (see “Networking is essential,” above).

As a “fresh-out” (newly graduated student), you’ll most likely be working in flight ops or hardware integration, and your employer will probably be a contractor rather than the federal government, Antunes says. “We highly recommend that graduates go for these entry-level jobs. It gets them in the door, into a team environment, doing hands-on space stuff. Eighty percent of jobs at NASA-Goddard are with contractors; federal employees typically manage and administrate. Starting with a contractor also has the advantage of extending your reach, because they work with multiple entities – not only NASA, but the DoD and other federal agencies.

And what if you go into astronautical engineering only to discover that you’re really not all that crazy about space? “The great thing about the degree is that you’re also an electrical engineer (EE) and a systems engineer,” Antunes says. “So even if satellites aren’t your thing, it’s not that hard to make a switch.  One way or another, there’s a market out there for your skills and knowledge.”

RockSat-X Launch Photo Courtesy of Marissa Jagarnath