Are you someone who is interested in building and designing spaceships, rockets, and aircraft? Students often get confused between Aerospace and Aeronautical Engineering and take the wrong choices due to a lack of knowledge. And both courses offer the study of the design of an aircraft. Aerospace engineering focuses on both aircraft and spacecraft that fly in and out of Earth’s atmosphere. Whereas, Aeronautical Engineering focuses on the aircraft that fly in the Earth’s atmosphere. If you are planning to make your career in this field, then this article will help you to settle the Aerospace Engineering vs Aeronautical Engineering debate.
What is Aerospace Engineering?
Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering. The subject deals with the design, development, testing, and production of aircraft, spacecraft, and related systems and equipment. The field focuses on atmospheric and space flight. And it has 2 major branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering.
Students doing aerospace engineering learn to design aircraft, spacecraft, satellites, and missiles. When these students become professionals they design the components and parts of an aircraft which include engines, airframes, wings, landing gear, control systems, and instruments.
What is Aeronautical Engineering?
Students pursuing aeronautical engineering study the design and construction of aircraft along with the techniques of operating aircraft. This course trains the future engineer in the design, manufacturing, and testing of commercial and military aircraft, spacecraft, and missiles. Students will learn to be responsible for the research, design, and production of aircraft, missiles, satellites, and spacecraft. And they will also learn to develop new technologies in commercial aviation, defense systems, and space exploration. Aeronautical engineering students develop and enhance their knowledge of aerodynamics, flight mechanics, and stability and control.
Reasons to pursue Aerospace and Aeronautical Engineering:
The major reason behind students studying aerospace and aeronautical engineering is the reputation of being called “rocket scientists”. Students enrolled in aerospace or aeronautical studies to design and build aircraft, spacecraft, satellites, and missiles. Getting a degree in this field will improve your resume and advance your career path in the engineering field.
Aerospace vs Aeronautical Engineering Syllabus:
Students interested in the course get confused as to which one to choose. Both aerospace and aeronautical engineering are intertwined and yet there are some differences. Hence, they have a separate curriculum with different focus areas for the students. Aerospace engineering is a broader and more advanced field as compared to aeronautical engineering. Aerospace graduates develop new technologies in aviation, defense systems, and spacecraft. Topics covered in aerospace engineering are Spacecraft Design, Introduction to Astronautics, Fundamentals of Jet Propulsion, Spacecraft Dynamics, and Orbital Mechanics.
Similarly, aeronautical engineering is the study of aircraft that operate within the Earth’s atmosphere. Aeronautical engineering is a study that focuses on designing aircraft, helicopters, and airplanes. Aeronautical engineering subjects will include thermodynamics, heat transfer, aircraft structure, flight mechanics, aircraft stability, and control.
Aerospace vs Aeronautical Engineering Scope
As you already know that aerospace and aeronautical engineers work in different fields in the field. Engineers design aircraft and propulsion systems and study the aerodynamic performance of aircraft along with its construction materials within the Earth’s atmosphere. There are various employment opportunities in this field in countries like the USA, France, the UK, and Germany. There are a lot of opportunities available globally for aeronautical engineering and aerospace engineers.
Countries like the USA, France, the UK, Germany, and others are hiring many Indian aerospace engineers every year. And you might be surprised but the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA (US Federal Government Agency) has a good number of Indian engineers working with them.
Similarities Between Aerospace and Aeronautical Engineering:
Aerospace and aeronautical engineering deal with aircraft. Both fields study flight stability, aerodynamics, and aircraft control. And they both also deal with traditional engineering issues. On the one hand, aerospace engineering focuses on designing both aircraft and spacecraft. Aerospace is the study of all craft flying in and out of the Earth’s atmosphere. On the other hand, aeronautical engineering deals with aircraft flying inside the earth’s atmosphere.
Which is Better?
Both aerospace and aeronautical engineering are better, in fact, best for students who want to study aircraft. Students who want to work in the aircraft manufacturing industry should go for aerospace engineering and those who want to work in the space industry should do aeronautical engineering. There is also an option to choose an aeronautical specialization after doing B-Tech in aerospace or mechanical engineering.
Both offer courses that are related to the study of aircraft design. Aerospace engineering focuses on both aircraft and spacecraft both within and outside the environment. But aeronautical engineering focuses on the planes within the Earth’s atmosphere. Both are good courses, although career opportunities in aerospace engineering are wide.
Apart from this, you can also do a course in Aircraft Maintenance Engineering. It provides information on the development, testing, design, manufacture, maintenance, and operation of aircraft, military aircraft, space aircraft, missiles, satellites, etc.
