There are many similarities between aerospace and aeronautical engineering; so much so that most people will not be able to tell you what the difference between the two is.
They both develop the highest standard of precision engineering, they both create new aviation technologies, and they both concern themselves with spacecraft designs.
However, aerospace and aeronautical engineering are definitely distinct, with the biggest difference being the former concentrates on flights both inside and outside of the earth’s atmosphere, while the latter focuses on aircrafts operating within the atmosphere only.
For instance, aerospace engineering will include astronautics, spacecraft dynamics, orbital mechanics, and even military technologies.
Engineers working in this sector can design a huge variety of flying objects, from space shutters to rockets. They could also create missiles, satellites, launch vehicles, and space stations, as well as helicopters and planes.
Aeronautical engineering, on the other hand, is only to do with designing aircrafts such as aeroplanes and helicopters. Engineers will use their study of thermodynamics, aircraft structures and stability, flight mechanics and heat transfer to develop new technologies and vehicles.
There is also astronautical engineering, which concentrates on aircraft performance in outer space. It is a specialised area of aerospace engineering just as aeronautical engineering is, focusing on outside the earth’s atmosphere as opposed to inside of it.
The UK is one of the leading countries in the world for developing new aerospace technologies. The sector turns over £35 billion annually, with the market continuing to expand all the time.
More than 38,000 passenger planes are expected to be needed within the next 20 years, amounting to an expenditure of £4.65 trillion, which means both aerospace and aeronautical engineers will be in high demand.