More than 12,00,000 students appear for GATE every year to get admission in M.Tech., MS, ME & PhD programs of IITs/NITs. Exam is conducted in 30 fields of Engg./Science and Aerospace is one of them (identified by code 'AE'). Around 5000 students appear for Aerospace paper to try their chances for roughly 150 seats.

Key Facts of GATE 2025 Aerospace Exam

• GATE Aerospace exam will be conducted Online tentatively on 8th February, 2025, Saturday in Morning session (9:30-12:30). Keep checking for exact date on GATE official website or here.
• An online virtual calculator will be made available to students at the time of examination. No physical calculator will be allowed. The calculator can be opened by clicking this link. It has all the necessary functions like power (root, square, nth power, nth root etc.), trigonometric (direct & inverse), logarithmic etc.
• Syllabus for Aerospace Engg. Exam (AE) has some Core Topics and Special Topics, with the weightage 90% & 10%.
• Third Year and Final year students of B.Tech./BE/M.Sc. (or who have already completed the degree) are eligible to apply.
• GATE Score will be valid for 3 years.
• All Test Papers of GATE 2025 will be entirely objective type. Pattern of questions may include
  • Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ),
  • Multiple Select Questions (MSQ), and/or
  • Numerical Answer Type (NAT) questions.

Who can appear in GATE Aerospace Exam?

B.Tech. in Aerospace Engg. is not a pre-requisite for appearing in GATE aerospace exam. For example; to take admission at Aersopace Dept, IIT, Bombay you may be a B.Tech. in Aerospace/ Mechanical/ Civil/ Electrical/ Electronics/ Instrumentation Engg. Also, after clearing AE exam you can take admission in Aerospace, Mechanical, Automobile engineering, Industrial design, Biotechnology, Physics, Mathematics etc. (Details in our Admission section)

Eligibility criteria is relaxed. A Candidate who is currently studying in the 3^rd or higher years of any undergraduate degree program OR has already completed any Government approved degree program in Engineering / Technology / Architecture / Science / Commerce / Arts is eligible to appear for GATE-2025 examination.

Where to take admission after GATE Aerospace?

Institutes offering M.Tech./MS/Ph.D. in Aerospace field are

1. Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore (Website)
2. Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (Website)
3. Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (Website)
4. Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (Website)
5. Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (Website)
6. Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT), Pune (Website)
7. Madras Institute of Technology (MIT), Chennai (Website)
8. Indian Institute of Space Science & Technology (IIST), Thiruvananthapuram (Website)

Major Aerospace Specializations available in these institutes are

• Aerodynamics
• Structures
• Propulsion
• Dynamics & Control

Your M.Tech. is Free of cost after clearing GATE

Students enrolled for M.Tech/MS in IISc or IITs are eligible for a scholarship from Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD). Student is expected to carry out the assigned duties for Teaching and Research Assistantship (TA and RA).

The M.Tech./MS (Research) student currently carries a monthly stipend of Rs.12,400/- for 8 hours of work per week. For Ph.D. students the corresponding financial assistance (for Engg./Sciences/Social Sciences) is Rs.31,000/- for the first two years and there after it is raised to Rs.35,000/- respectively for another three years. 

What is the Syllabus?

It comprises of 6 major topics from undergraduate (BE/B.Tech.) syllabus

1. Aerodynamics
2. Flight Mechanics
3. Structures
4. Propulsion
5. Space Dynamics
6. Engineering Mathematics

There are 55 multiple choice questions from this syllabus totaling to 85 marks. 10 multiple choice questions are from General Aptitude and carry 15 marks. (Check Full syllabus and Paper pattern)

How much marks are required out of 100?

From the past year results, a score around 30-32 is enough to clear the exam. You will be called 'GATE qualified'. But to get a seat in premier institutions, you require something like 60+.

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This was just the basic information to get you started. Look for more information in other posts.