Aerospace industry | Definition, Overview, & History (2024)

aerospace industry, assemblage of manufacturing concerns that deal with vehicular flight within and beyond Earth’s atmosphere. (The term aerospace is derived from the words aeronautics and spaceflight.)

The aerospace industry is engaged in the research, development, and manufacture of flight vehicles, including unpowered gliders and sailplanes (see gliding), uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs), lighter-than-air craft (see balloon; airship), heavier-than-air craft (both fixed-wing and rotary-wing; see airplane; military aircraft), missiles (see rocket and missile system), space launch vehicles, and spacecraft (crewed and uncrewed). Also included among its concerns are major flight-vehicle subsystems such as propulsion and avionics (aviation electronics) and key support systems necessary for the testing, operation, and maintenance of flight vehicles. In addition, the industry is engaged in the fabrication of nonaerospace products and systems that make use of aerospace technology.

Character of the industry

Technological progress is the basis for competitiveness and advancement in the aerospace industry. The industry is, as a result, a world leader in advancing science and technology. Aerospace systems have a very high value per unit weight and are among the most complex, as measured by the number of components in finished products. Consequently, it is economically and politically prestigious for a country to possess an aerospace industry. Among the world’s largest manufacturing industries in terms of monetary value of product output and employment, the aerospace industry is characterized by a relatively small number of large firms and numerous international partnerships at every level.

For the major aerospace countries, their own military establishments and, in some cases, foreign militaries constitute the largest customers. The next most important buyers are the world’s commercial airlines, primarily American, European, and Asian–Pacific Rim carriers. The three largest markets for aircraft are North America, which is dominated by the United States; the Asia-Pacific region, which is dominated by China, and Europe.

The United States possesses the world’s largest aerospace industrial complex. As of 2017, American companies constituted just under half of the global aerospace industry. Although their own government is the major procurer of military systems, American firms are also the dominant supplier of both military and civil aerospace hardware to the rest of the world. Today, non-American companies seek a larger portion of the global market and challenge American dominance.

Russia retains a large aerospace industry. After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia acquired most of the highly competent Soviet design bureaus. Partnerships with American and European firms were initiated, and Russia entered Western markets for the first time.

Western Europe’s aerospace industry has become a strong global player, with France, the United Kingdom, and Germany particularly active. Through the success of cooperative programs such as the Airbus line of commercial transports and the Ariane family of space launch vehicles, the European industry has gained considerable experience in the development and manufacture of almost the entire range of aerospace systems.

In the Asia–Pacific Rim region, China has the leading aerospace industry, but—compared with the United States and western Europe—its capabilities are still limited. China has made development of an indigenous aviation industry a national priority and has partnerships with a number of foreign ventures in both aircraft and spacecraft systems. The country also has developed space launchers, small satellites, and craft intended for crewed spaceflight. Japan has a thriving aerospace industry with an emphasis on military aircraft, and Japanese companies also perform as key subcontractors to firms in the United States and Europe.

The interests of the U.S. aerospace industry are represented through the Aerospace Industries Association of America (AIA), an aerospace-industry-funded organization whose membership consists of the major companies in the field. The AIA provides a forum for technical and policy issues concerning the industry and serves as a lobbying agent for the common interests of its members. Its parallel in Europe is the Aerospace and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD). Based in Brussels, ASD interfaces with member countries as well as the European Union. In addition, Europe has several organizations at the national level. Other notable associations are the Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies (SJAC) and the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada (AIAC).

The worldwide reduction in acquisitions of aerospace defense systems after the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s has prompted many manufacturers in the United States, Europe, and Russia to shift toward a more balanced mix of military and civil products. Some firms have adapted military aerospace hardware for civilian use or have sought nonaerospace markets for their expertise. To remain profitable, many companies have engaged in an almost continuous process of consolidations, mergers, divestitures, and international joint ventures and partnerships. Nevertheless, they all have been affected to some degree by the following developments: the ever-increasing costs of producing complex new aircraft and spacecraft, the globalization of the economy, the volatile level of government spending on defense-related projects, the state of commercial air travel and its needs, and the commercialization of space and the prospect of its low-cost access. These are the factors determining the size and scope of the aerospace industry today.