Aeronautics and Astronautics / Spacecraft Engineering

Aeronautics and astronautics focuses on fast-moving aircraft and spacecraft in the Earth’s atmosphere and outer space. This course will develop your knowledge of overall spacecraft system design, including subsystems and their interfaces, providing excellent preparation for a career in the space industry.

The first two years are the same across our Aeronautics and Astronautics degrees and focus on core engineering science, such as aerodynamics, propulsion systems, mechanics of flight, fluid dynamics and control, giving you a professional grounding for the design and operation of air vehicles and spacecraft.

In your third and fourth years, you will learn to design, examine and test spacecraft systems, as well as understand their environmental impact.. In your third year you will also carry out an individual project, bringing together the concepts and skills you have learned.

During your fourth year, you will take further advanced and specialised modules and participate in a group design project, applying your engineering knowledge to solve a real-world problem.

You will have access to extensive facilities, which include dedicated student design studios and workshops, the largest wind tunnel in any UK university, state-of-the-art jet engine and space propulsion facilities, a flight simulator and a professional manufacturing centre.

Our courses are fully accredited by the Royal Aeronautical Society and Institution of Mechanical Engineers and offer a route to chartered status.

Typical modules include:

Year one: Introduction to Aeronautics and Astronautics; Engineering Design; Electrical and Electronic Systems; Mathematics; Mechanics, Structures and Materials; Thermofluids.

Year two: Aerodynamics; Astronautics; Engineering Management and Law; Materials and Structures; Mathematics; Mechanics of Flight; Propulsion; Systems Design and Computing.

Year three: Individual Project; Advanced Astronautics; Aerospace Control Design; Aerothermodynamics; Aircraft Structural Design; Spacecraft Systems Engineering and Design; plus module options.

Year four: Group Design Project; Advanced Aerospace Engneering ; plus additional module options to deepen your knowledge, such as Spacecraft Orbital Mechanics and Control or Spacecraft Propulsion.

Testing is conducted through a combination of unseen written examinations and assessed coursework in the form of problem-solving exercises, laboratory reports, design exercises, essays, and individual and group projects. Experimental, research and design skills are assessed through laboratory reports, coursework exercises and oral presentations.

Professionally accredited courses provide industry-wide recognition of the quality of your qualification.

• Aeronautical Society, Royal
• Mechanical Engineers, Institution of