Program overview
Aerospace Science and Technology, simply put, is about how to build airplanes, rockets, and satellites, and make them fly more steadily, farther, and safer. At the graduate level, this major branches into several directions: aircraft design (e.g., wing shapes, structural strength), aerospace propulsion theory and engineering (how to make engines more efficient), manufacturing engineering (turning designs into reality), and human-machine environment and life support (how astronauts survive in space). Core courses include aerodynamics, flight mechanics, spacecraft orbital mechanics, composite material structural design, and many involve computer simulations and experiments. Who is it for? If you've loved folding paper airplanes and watching rocket launches since childhood, don't mind physics and math, and enjoy hands-on experiments or coding flight simulations, this major will be right up your alley. China has strong characteristics in this field: universities like Beihang University, Northwestern Polytechnical University, and Harbin Institute of Technology not only have top-notch labs but also deep collaborations with enterprises like China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation and COMAC, giving students opportunities to work on real projects. International students here can gain firsthand experience from large aircraft to lunar exploration programs.