Skip to contentSkip to footer
  • Community
  • Jobs
  • Companies
  • Salaries
  • For employers
      Notifications

      Loading...

      Elevate your career

      Discover your earning potential, land dream jobs, and share work-life insights anonymously.

      employer cover photo
      employer logo
      employer logo

      SpaceX

      Is this your company?

      About
      Reviews
      Pay and benefits
      Jobs
      Interviews
      Interviews
      Related searches: SpaceX reviews | SpaceX jobs | SpaceX salaries | SpaceX benefits | SpaceX conversations
      SpaceX interviewsSpaceX Mechanical Engineering Intern interviewsSpaceX interview


      Glassdoor

      • About / Press
      • Awards
      • Blog
      • Research
      • Contact Us
      • Guides

      Employers

      • Free Employer Account
      • Employer Centre
      • Employers Blog

      Information

      • Help
      • Guidelines
      • Terms of Use
      • Privacy and Ad Choices
      • Do Not Sell Or Share My Information
      • Cookie Consent Tool
      • Security

      Work With Us

      • Advertisers
      • Careers
      Download the App

      • Browse by:
      • Companies
      • Jobs
      • Locations
      • Communities
      • Recent posts

      Copyright © 2008-2026. Glassdoor LLC. "Glassdoor," "Worklife Pro," "Bowls" and logo are proprietary trademarks of Glassdoor LLC.

      Company Bowl sample

      Want the inside scoop on your own company?

      Check out your Company Bowl for anonymous work chats.

      Bowls

      Get actionable career advice tailored to you by joining more bowls.

      Followed companies

      Stay ahead in opportunities and insider tips by following your dream companies.

      Job searches

      Get personalised job recommendations and updates by starting your searches.

      Mechanical Engineering Intern Interview

      11 Jan 2024
      Anonymous employee
      Accepted offer
      Positive experience
      Difficult interview

      Application

      I applied through a recruiter. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at SpaceX in Jan 2024

      Interview

      Overall, the process was extremely smooth and quick. The interviews were more difficult than average, but not unreasonable. I was contacted by a recruiter for a Starlink team in Redmond, WA. I was initially interviewing for a full time position, but I transitioned to an internship (with potential for a full time position) after expressing interest during my interview with the manager. I had 3 phone interviews: Screening: Introduction, basic questions about my resume, and some technical questions (don't overthink these - I went into some design concepts, but the recruiter also wanted me to specifically give simple textbook answers) Manager: Half technical, half deep dive into my resume and projects. Be prepared to go into detailed specifics of your contributions in projects and work, including engineering fundamentals, measurable improvements, and next steps. They will ask about your assumptions and challenge them. My technical questions were related to heat transfer and mechanics. Team Member: Another deep dive into one of my projects - I was steered towards talking about different concepts than my discussion with the manager (mechanical fundamentals instead of thermo/fluids/heat). The whole process took less than a month - the recruiter was very communicative during the whole process.

      Interview questions [1]

      Question 1

      Q: You have 2 plates connected with a bolt, with a force applied to the plate horizontally. What is the primary failure mode? What is the equation for the stress? How can you reduce these failures? Q: In a simple RWD car, how much torque is required at the rear wheel? (they wanted a first-order approximation equation) Q: What are the modes of heat transfer? What factors govern the effectiveness of each method? Q: You have 2 dimensionally identical metal plates bonded together, 1 steel, 1 aluminum. They are heated together to the same temperature. What will happen? Which is in tension/compression? Q: Give an example of a time you showed extreme effort. Q: I have to write a letter to my CEO - how should I justify hiring you? Q: Have you received any awards that you are proud of? (in the context of an automotive cooling loop) Q: Give me a detailed explanation of what happens to one "particle" of heat in your system. Q: How did you determine your safety factor? Q: What assumptions did you make? Is there anything wrong with them? (in the context of a mechanical fixture) Q: How did you arrive on this shape? What are the alternatives? Q: How did you set up the FEA for this? Q: How did you choose your material? What were the tradeoffs?
      Answer question
      9

      Other Mechanical Engineering Intern interview reviews for SpaceX

      Mechanical Engineering Intern Interview

      7 Oct 2025
      Anonymous employee
      Hawthorne, CA
      Accepted offer
      Positive experience
      Average interview

      Application

      I interviewed at SpaceX (Hawthorne, CA)

      Interview

      It was pretty fast. Two rounds, you typical first principles questions. They dig deep into your personal projects so know what you are saying. The engineers are actually pretty helpful is making you feel confident and giving guidance where needed.

      Interview questions [1]

      Question 1

      Based off of your intuition, how long can you extend a tape measure until it fails? How is the failure mode?
      Answer question

      Mechanical Engineering Intern Interview

      5 Feb 2026
      Anonymous employee
      Accepted offer
      Positive experience
      Average interview

      Application

      I applied online. I interviewed at SpaceX in Mar 2025

      Interview

      The process was only one round. It was completed with the team lead. The interview covered a review of my resume as well as some technical and fluid system focused questions.

      Interview questions [1]

      Question 1

      Talk about a project you've done
      Answer question

      Mechanical Engineering Intern Interview

      5 Feb 2025
      Anonymous employee
      Hawthorne, CA
      Accepted offer
      Positive experience
      Difficult interview

      Application

      The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at SpaceX (Hawthorne, CA) in Jan 2025

      Interview

      I had great experience interviewing for SpaceX. The process involved two rounds of interviews-- one was a phone call with the hiring manager, the second was a teams call with engineers on the same team. Round one interview started off with manager discussing role and its responsibilities, then a conversation leading off the "tell me about a big problem you solved question", and some behavioral questions at the end. Few days later, I heard back for a second round invite which was a technical panel interview with two engineers I'd work closely with. Interview mainly covered standard mech e concepts-- hookes law, beam deflection, material properties, heat transfer, manufacturing processes and techniques. There were also some role specific technical questions and questions about softwares I am comfortable with. At the end, I was told I'd hear back soon regarding a decision-- I received an email about 10 days after regarding a 15 min call abt next steps, and I was later offered the position during phone call. My advice to other students trying to get in: 1) know your resume in and out, esp your biggest project as the interviews will grill you about this. 2) revisit basic mech e concepts, from my experience, showing your foundational knowledge is far more important than the actual correct answer. I definitely did not answer every technical question correctly or in complete detail. 3) another behavioral question i received in both interviews was regarding leadership ability- from my experience, SpaceX rlly cares abt hiring candidates who demonstrate leadership ability, so ensure you can talk about this in some way. 4) be curious about the role and position-- ask thoughtful questions that rlly help you understand the role, and this will show true interest in the position.

      Interview questions [1]

      Question 1

      Tell me how you would design an enclosure for an electrical system that needs to handle extreme conditions in space as well as vibrations.
      Answer question
      4