• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Departments
    • Bioengineering
    • Civil and Environmental Engineering
    • Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences
    • Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
    • Materials Science and Engineering
    • Mechanical Engineering
    • Nuclear Engineering
    • Aerospace program
    • Engineering Science program
  • News
    • Berkeley Engineer magazine
    • Social media
    • News videos
    • News digest (email)
    • Press kit
  • Events
    • Events calendar
    • Commencement
    • Homecoming
    • Cal Day
    • Space reservations
    • View from the Top
    • Kuh Lecture Series
    • Minner Lecture
  • College directory
  • For staff & faculty
Berkeley Engineering

Educating leaders. Creating knowledge. Serving society.

  • About
    • Facts & figures
    • Rankings
    • Mission & values
    • Equity & inclusion
    • Voices of Berkeley Engineering
    • Leadership team
    • Milestones
    • Buildings & facilities
    • Maps
  • Admissions
    • Undergraduate admissions
    • Graduate admissions
    • New students
    • Visit
    • Maps
    • Admissions events
    • K-12 outreach
  • Academics
    • Undergraduate programs
    • Majors & minors
    • Undergraduate Guide
    • Graduate programs
    • Graduate Guide
    • Innovation & entrepreneurship
    • Kresge Engineering Library
    • International programs
    • Executive education
  • Students
    • New students
    • Advising & counseling
    • ESS programs
    • CAEE academic support
    • Student life
    • Wellness & inclusion
    • Undergraduate Guide
    • > Degree requirements
    • > Policies & procedures
    • Forms & petitions
    • Resources
  • Research & faculty
    • Centers & institutes
    • Undergrad research
    • Faculty
    • Sustainability and resiliency
  • Connect
    • Alumni
    • Industry
    • Give
    • Stay in touch
Home > News > New aerospace major launched
Space Technologies and Rocketry team membersSpace Technologies and Rocketry (STAR) team members at an L1 certification launch in October 2021. (Photo by Jenya Pryadkin, courtesy STAR/Berkeley Engineering)

New aerospace major launched

Berkeley Engineer magazine cover Fall 2021
November 15, 2021
This article appeared in Berkeley Engineer magazine, Fall 2021
  • In this issue
    Illustration of hourglass, containing plastic transforming into compost

    Back down to earth

    Photo illustration of Michael Yartsev and a flock of bats

    Right off the bats

    Leaping squirrel

    Leaps and bounds

    Dean Tsu-Jae King Liu with Oski and students on Wozniak Terrace

    Dean's note: Engineering better health

    Upfront

    • Where there's smoke
    • Block by block
    • The language of probabilities
    • Put to the test
    • New aerospace major launched
    • Super cool
    • Dream on
    • Awesome agility

    New & noteworthy

    • High school named in honor of alum
    • The art of engineering
    • Farewell
    • With flexibility comes possibility
  • Past issues

In response to a growing demand for researchers and developers in the fields of aviation, defense and space exploration, Berkeley Engineering has added a new aerospace engineering major to its portfolio of academic disciplines. Building on the existing undergraduate minor, the new program will include a bachelor of science degree in aerospace engineering.

Launching in fall 2022, the program will have an inaugural cohort of 40 students and could expand to 200 students within four years. Student interest in the subject is already high, with at least 300 actively involved in aerospace-related clubs on campus. Even without a formal program, Berkeley Engineering currently ranks at #14 in U.S. News & World Report’s ratings of aerospace and aeronautical programs nationwide.

The new major is designed for students who aspire to become leaders in an emerging era of aerospace technologies that include sustainable aviation, autonomous flight and space exploration. The program will be built around a dual focus of space exploration and low-altitude air mobility. “Our students will benefit from a cutting-edge UC Berkeley education at a time when interest in aerospace engineering rivals that of the Apollo era,” said Panos Papadopoulos, professor of mechanical engineering and faculty lead of the aerospace engineering baccalaureate program.

Learn more: Berkeley Engineering launches aerospace major

Topics: Aerospace, College news
  • Contact
  • Give
  • Privacy
  • UC Berkeley
  • Accessibility
  • Nondiscrimination
  • instagram
  • X logo
  • linkedin
  • facebook
  • youtube
  • bluesky
© 2025 UC Regents