Texas A&M University's Department of Aerospace Engineering has begun offering an undergraduate degree in space engineering, the College of Engineering announced Tuesday. The degree started with the fall 2026 semester, and its first 40 students should finish in 2031.
Classes span space dynamics, propulsion and fluid mechanics, materials science, and human spaceflight, according to the announcement. In their final year, students will work in teams on a capstone project designing items such as space systems, structures, habitats, missions or suits.
The department hired two professors for the new program. Trevor Wolf studied aerospace engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, and Diane Davis worked for NASA for the past 10 years and serves on a Gateway design team focused on traffic management around the moon, the university said. It plans to recruit more faculty in the coming years.
"We're gearing up to produce leaders in space exploration," said Manoranjan Majji, the department's associate head for space engineering. He said the program is meant to build a workforce for the space industry growing in Texas.
The degree follows a graduate path that produced its first graduate this spring, when Andre Samaraweera became A&M's first master's graduate in space engineering.
Space Institute set to open in Houston
A&M's larger space project is not in College Station. The Texas A&M University Space Institute, built with $200 million from the Texas Space Commission, is scheduled for a grand opening in late November at NASA's Exploration Park, a 240-acre site next to Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas Monthly reported Tuesday after touring the building.
