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In recent years, the aviation industry has become more competitive due to the increased number of travelers across the globe for various reasons including business and travel. Consequently, the number of aerospace companies have also increased to meet the growing demand for air travel. Aerospace companies design, build, test, sell, and maintain aircraft, spacecraft, rockets, missiles, and their spare parts. The global aerospace industry is valued at US $838 billion (2017) while aircraft production was worth over US $180 billion in 2015. Here are the world’s largest aerospace companies
AEROSPACE
The modern space domain is rapidly evolving into an increasingly complex and interconnected environment, with a growing number of emerging players and new technological advancements accelerating the pace of a shifting landscape.
Solving the hardest problems in space now requires a higher level of coordination and collaboration than ever before. The Aerospace Corporation is working across the space enterprise, partnering with national space agencies to identify end-to-end mission needs and to deliver innovative and integrated solutions at the speed of relevance.
“Aerospace is uniquely positioned to increase up-front, cross-customer engagement to achieve mission success from an enterprise perspective. We are working with and across diverse customers and mission areas to advance our nation’s capabilities to lead in space,” said Mark Silverman, Chief Engineer of Aerospace. “The goal is to develop integrated perspectives and solutions leveraging our unique role as the FFRDC for the space enterprise.”
As the trusted partner for space, Aerospace looks to deepen its impact by harnessing the unparalleled breadth and depth of its technical expertise, convening strategic engagement and alignment across National Security, Civil and the rapidly emerging Commercial space while driving the maturation of enabling capabilities, such as digital engineering, cyber, artificial intelligence and rapid prototyping.
Moving Farther, Faster, Together
The modern space enterprise is evolving toward one that is distributed, interoperable, and fully integrated with digital capabilities. Aerospace is supporting its customers in bridging connections across diverse stakeholders that drive the alignment of overlapping needs, efforts and resources to advance shared solutions.
A primary example where integrated operations could create exponential value is in data. The volume of accessible data has expanded beyond the point of human comprehension. Furthermore, different end-users have different needs, and agencies have their own methods of acquiring, storing and using data. However, in order for decisionmakers to rapidly extract actionable intelligence in a real-world scenario across multiple domains, information must be able to be integrated and automated to support next-generation capabilities.
Aerospace continues to support National Security Space in bringing together multiple agencies as well as commercial partners to advance this effort for the warfighter, human spaceflight, and science-related missions.
Leveraging New Opportunities of Modern Space
Due in large part to advances in the commercial sector, the barriers of access to orbit have never been lower. However, reaching the Moon, Mars and beyond while establishing the necessary infrastructure to operate effectively will require a level of effort and resources that no single agency can provide on its own.
However, collaboration and coordination across government agencies could create meaningful opportunities to leverage economies of scale as well as more cost-effective commercial capabilities that optimize value of investments in the national interest.
As an example, in the area of cislunar space, Aerospace is broadly engaged across multiple dimensions of the national strategy in support of Civil and National Security Space customers. Aerospace’s experts are well positioned to promote cross-agency and broader partnerships that advance integrated approaches that enable the space enterprise to achieve more by working together.
Fostering an Integrated Space Enterprise
Aerospace is dedicated to delivering mission success at the enterprise level, supporting its government customers with continuous engagement and a unique perspective that spans across a broad range of mission areas. As the space domain continues to evolve, navigating this …
AEROPSACE SERVICES ON DEMAND
TIME-CRITICAL CARGO
Our team understands that sometimes the most important element in the aerospace sector is timing. We work to help our customers deliver time-critical cargo in the most efficient way, keeping airlines running smoothly and limiting potential downtime.
TRANSPORTING AN AIRCRAFT
Whether your requirement is for transporting an aircraft engine or electronic flight instrument component, our cargo charter team provides fast, effective solutions for both scheduled deliveries and AOG situations.
ONE STOP SHOP
We offer a one-stop shop for the aerospace sector – arranging cargo charters and providing on board courier services on a 24/7/365 basis. Our aircraft leasing division is on hand to offer airlines round-the-clock expertise on ACMI and last-minute sub-charter operations worldwide.
Contact us to find out more about moving your aerospace parts at @operations@africairflights.com
THE LARGEST AEROSPACE COMPANIES IN THE WORLD BY REVENUE
Boeing
Boeing is not only the most popular aerospace company in the world but also the largest by revenue at US$93.4 billion in 2017. The company has managed to cut a niche for itself and is credited with many products in the market. Boeing is known for its airplanes, missile defense system, satellites, rotorcrafts, and telecommunication equipment. It also provides airplane financing and product support services.
Airbus
Airbus has a vast interest and investment in the commercial and military aerospace market. It is today the second-largest aerospace company in the world by revenue, recording US$72.3 billion in 2017. Airbus is the largest supplier of aircraft in the European Union and Boeing’s greatest rival. The company is the second-largest producer of large commercial aircraft with over 100 passengers. Apart from commercial planes, its other products include civilian and military helicopters, defense electronics, missile systems, and unmanned aerial systems.
Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin is one of the global leaders in military aerospace contract and also claims a large share of the civilian market. The American-based company operates in four business segments; missile and fire control, aeronautics, space system, and rotary and mission systems. Lockheed is synonymous with UAVs and combat aircraft with the US’ Department of Defense at its major customers. Of the US$51 billion generated in 2017, over 70% came from military sales. Apart from aerospace, the company has also invested in the renewable energy system and healthcare systems.
United Technologies
The United Technologies has an interest in numerous areas including aerospace systems, aircraft engines, escalators, and elevators among others. Thanks to technology, the company pride in making the aerospace industry safe. UTC has several business units including Pratt & Whitney which develops technologies and services for aerospace. The company is a large military contractor and generates about 10% of its revenue from the Government of the US. In 2017, UTC generated a revenue of about US$30.9 billion.
GE Aviation
GE Aviation is a subsidiary of General Electric. It specializes in the supply of aircraft engines, and also offers engines for most of the commercial airplanes. With a revenue of US$27.4 billion, the company was ranked the 5th largest aerospace company in the world. Its main competitors in the engine market are the United Technologies and Rolls-Royce.
The Country With The Highest Number Of Aerospace Companies
The aerospace industry is economically and politically prestigious industry for any country. The industry is characterized by relatively a small number of large firms and several international partnerships. Of about 50 countries with at least one aerospace company, the US has the largest number. Six of the 11 largest aerospace companies in the world are based in the US, including Boeing, Raytheon, UTC, Lockheed Martins, and GE Aviation. These American firms are also the major suppliers of civil and military aerospace hardware.
Frequently Asked Questions
Aerospace and Aviation are two sectors that AfricAir Aviation Services knows very well. We’ve been supplying professionals within the industries for over 40 years. The two industries are after thought of as one and the same with many people using the terms interchangeably. Although there is some overlap, they are not exactly the same. They are indeed separate disciplines and sectors dealing with related activities, but not the same. Having said that, we thought it might be useful for our readers to clear up the confusion with a post on the difference between aerospace and aviation.
What is aerospace?
The word aerospace is essentially a combination of two words: aeronautics and spaceflight. Therefore, aerospace deals with the design, manufacturing, and maintenance of aircrafts or spacecrafts and can be thought of as the science of flight within Earth’s atmosphere as well as outside it.
What is aviation?
Aviation, on the other hand, has to do with mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. It is basically all things aeroplane-related within Earth’s atmosphere.
How do the aerospace and aviation industries differ?
Although we’ve already touched on the basic differences above, it might help to get a bit more detailed.
The aerospace industry is a high-tech sector that deals with the research, design, manufacture, and maintenance of both aircraft and also spacecraft. There are also a broad range of services that can be thought of as part of the aerospace industry, and those are aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul as well as satellite services within the space sector. As one of the global economy’s largest and most important industries, it is broken up into smaller sectors, which deal with military aircraft, commercial airliners, space, missiles, and aviation.
Aviation is also a very important industry to the global economy and, as we established above, generally deals with the design, manufacture, operation and repair of aircraft used to fly within Earth’s atmosphere. Aviation is divided into four smaller sectors, namely airports, airlines, the aircraft industry, and aviation institutions.
How do the aerospace and aviation disciplines differ?
Aviation is focused on aircraft operation and maintenance, the design of commercial or military aircraft and the management of air traffic. Distinct from aviation engineering, aerospace engineering is focused on a few key areas, the first being aerodynamics, which basically means how air flows over, past and around objects. Next is propulsion, which is the study of engines and fuels that are needed to push, or propel, air or spacecraft through the air. And lastly, the composition and design of the aircraft or spacecraft.
What do professionals in each industry do?
Aviation industry professionals encompass a broad range of roles, such as pilots, air traffic controllers, aviation safety inspectors, flight attendants, aircraft equipment mechanics and of course, aerospace engineers. Aerospace engineers largely deal with designing, testing and building aircraft, spacecraft and their components, as well as missiles, space stations and satellites. Aerospace engineers are also involved in the research and development of design specifications, investigate accidents involving aircraft, participate in flight-test programmes, as well as repair and maintain aircraft and spacecraft.