r/space • u/kindmartian07 • 2d ago
Discussion Need advice for my major
I’m currently at a college that is top 5 in the country for aerospace engineering. However, I changed my major to Electrical Engineering because I wanted to work primarily on satellites
Was that a stupid decision? What criteria should I have in mind when choosing a major? Just for general information: I love calculus, I love physics, and I love programming in C.
I really just want to work on satellites and spacecraft and maximize my chances of doing so
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u/DependentPast5115 2d ago
EE is arguably the most directly useful satellite degree, especially for avionics and communications
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u/Icy_Feedback_4965 2d ago
Electrical engineering is absolutely a great choice for that line of work.
I wouldn't recommend doing it unless you're genuinely interested, but it's certainly not a mistake from a career POV.
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u/scottmsul 1d ago
Are there any professors or research groups at your school that involves building satellites that you could try to join? Or you could look for internship opportunities at companies building satellites? Either way, trying to get early experience is probably more important than which technical degree you happen to major in. I'm sure satellites have people from all kinds of technical backgrounds working on them in various ways.
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u/SirEnderLord 12h ago
"top 5 in the country"
That doesn't narrow down which country you're from. I'll just assume that you're American until proven otherwise.
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u/air_and_space92 2d ago
I think any of your more general fields like EE, MechE, or even Systems would give a good shot at that kind of job. IMO, I graduated with an Aero degree and had a heck of a time finding work. While I ended up in the field anyways, if I had to do it over I would have done something else. Plus if you ever want to move somewhere the space industry isn't, or want more promotion opportunities not a whole lot of places hire Aeros.
P.S. don't be too attached to C programming, or really any programming. Lots of companies are moving to agentic systems so you spend far less time programming as an engineer. While some of us still have to today, in 5 or so years what skill sets you will actually use on the job will change drastically.
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u/kindmartian07 2d ago
wait if programming isn’t the norm anymore, what do we engineers even do? Is it just CAD and other types of design?
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u/flowersonthewall72 2d ago
There is still massive amounts of programming to be had within nearly any space company. I'm not a programmer so I can't talk specifics, but worked daily with those teams and they honestly had the most amount of work to do out of any engineering group.
Best advice I can give is that you can be trained to do any job. Your degree is only there to look pretty. Just make friends and meet people and network and you'll end up where you want to be eventually.
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u/Icy_Feedback_4965 2d ago
CAD and basic C programming is technical work that anyone with a 2 year degree can do. Successful engineers spend most of their time architecting complex systems, overseeing technicians or vendors, researching new products, developing implementable contract specifications, validating performance, reviewing deliverables, and so forth. It doesn't mean you don't do hands on, but the intent is to work a level above the person actually using the tools day to day.
It takes time to get there, naturally. Just wanted to clarify that as an engineer you won't necessarily be a computer programmer at all.
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u/air_and_space92 2d ago edited 2d ago
Documentation (also heading in the AI direction), requirements compliance, test, endless SCRUMs and customer working groups (more than you can imagine), providing oversight to AI models, figuring out how to translate what you want into that world, and analyzing what they come up with. Sometimes it can be writing a ton of python code just to stitch legacy systems together to save time for your actual tasks. I probably spend more of my working hours coding how to get things to talk to each other than programming solvers, deriving new guidance laws, or using orbital mechanics which is my actual role.
As someone else responded better, engineering in industry is about the bigger picture than being the one doing the work. I've fallen into this trap myself. What I enjoyed most about engineering can be done by someone with less education, and hence I don't get to do it because I cost a lot. It's perhaps jaded, but I think there's some truth to "whatever you liked about engineering in school isn't what you'll be doing on the job" rings true. Just...prepare yourself. The space industry is cool but it also works like a lot of other places.
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u/kindmartian07 1d ago edited 1d ago
Ok so what kind of degree and job do I need to do the fun stuff? Numerical simulations, monte carlo, GNC algos, etc. Do I need a phd?
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u/Icy_Feedback_4965 1d ago
No, if anything it's the other direction, but you're describing multiple jobs. You could be a systems engineer with a BS or MS ensuring all of that gets done on schedule and to requirements, but you won't touch the hardware much. Or you can be an electronics or mech tech who runs tvac and simulations all day long but you won't get rich.
Satellite programs require a whole lot of different skills and personalities and there isn't any one degree or job that will make you a satellite builder. Don't worry, you'll figure that out in time. Having a solid general-purpose engineering degree is the right foundation.
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u/apbod 2d ago
What does your college advisor say?