Aeronautics and Astronautics

Aeronautics and astronautics is the engineering discipline concerned with the design, development and operation of vehicles that fly within the Earth's atmosphere and beyond it, encompassing aircraft, rockets, satellites and the emerging range of unmanned and autonomous air systems. It draws on fluid mechanics, structural engineering, thermodynamics, propulsion, materials science and control systems, applying them to the extraordinary engineering challenges of sustained flight in environments that are alternately dominated by aerodynamic forces, extreme temperatures and the vacuum of space. It is a discipline where precision engineering and physical understanding must meet the most demanding performance requirements imaginable.

At the University of Southampton this three-year programme develops your knowledge of advanced aerospace engineering through rigorous academic study. You will cover the core engineering sciences of aerodynamics, flight mechanics, structures, propulsion and materials, learning to apply mathematical and computational tools to the analysis and design of aerospace systems. Southampton's engineering school is research-active and well equipped, and you will encounter current thinking from faculty working on aerospace problems from subsonic flight to spacecraft design.

The three-year programme develops the depth of technical understanding needed for graduate-level engineering work in the sector.

Graduates work in aerospace and defence companies, space agencies, satellite and launch vehicle manufacturers, research organisations and aviation regulators. Aircraft design, structural analysis, flight testing, propulsion engineering, space mission design and systems engineering are among the roles that aeronautics and astronautics graduates move into. The analytic and engineering skills the degree develops are also valued in adjacent industries including automotive, marine engineering and advanced manufacturing.

Chartered engineer status through the Royal Aeronautical Society or the Institution of Mechanical Engineers is a common professional aspiration, and the degree provides the academic foundation for that pathway. Some graduates go on to postgraduate study or research in aerospace, fluid dynamics or related disciplines.