Challenging and rewarding job; working for a clear purpose - Avionics Intern SpaceX Employee Review

5.0
22 Jul 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Everyone here is working toward the same goal. I am surrounded by people that are smarter and more talented than I am, people who are helping me learn and grow much more than when I was in school. I am challenged by my work, and interns here are given mission-critical projects. It's clear that the employees here genuinely love their work and the mission they are working toward. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of politics--most people want to stay close to the engineering role they were hired for. My department is trying to foster a culture where people have opportunities to change roles when they feel like they aren't growing any more. Things happen INSANELY quickly here: one week someone will be designing a tool or a part, the next week it'll have been manufactured. It's amazing to work at a headquarters with such tight integration between design and manufacturing. Elon is truly a world-changing CEO, and it is exciting to work for him. And of course, it's an awesome feeling to come to work every day and build rockets!

Cons

There aren't established methods of communication. This is partly to do with how quickly SpaceX grew in the past few years, so I hope this will continue to improve. Groups are sometimes adversarial with each other, and sometimes cooperative. People get frustrated when requirements change, and it seems like most groups are still iterating on how to structure their communication. Managers are often protective of their employees' time because people can easily be overburdened by requests from outside their group. Beyond the communication stuff, we are ALWAYS crunched for time. Everyone here works long hours on short deadlines. Working here definitely requires a conscious choice to accept a demanding schedule.

Explore other reviews about SpaceX

5.0
6 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

If you like working and are dedicated to the cause, this is the place for you!

Cons

Very high expectations with long hours.

4.0
6 Apr 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

You learn so much because the work is so freaking intense, its a lot of fun if you're the type of person who loves to get emerged in hard problems. The hours for me were not too bad but I was the exception, all the other interns I was with dealt with 60-70+ hour weeks, some interns came in at 10am and left at 12am, when I say its intense, I'm not joking. This is however very unique to the Starbase location. I've heard Hawthorne is a lot more chill. I honestly despite how challenging the role was always look back on it with a sense of pride in my work, and longing to be back there. It really does feel that you're doing world changing things.

Cons

Very un diverse upper management, I'd say the company is pretty diverse in the lower ranks, but once you start to look at the org chart and see who's in charge, you realize that its mainly just white people. Makes you wonder if as a person of color you too will be able to move up. Housing sucks: there was limited housing on campus for full time employees, you have to wait a year plus to get off the queue and once you're off you only really get tiny homes as the option that are in an inconvenient location. Interns don't even have the option to get on campus housing, they give you 3k in a housing stipend and expect you to find a place in Brownsville. I'd say its very hard to maintain a relationship while working here if you don't have an understanding partner, the work schedule is brutal and you really can't slack off.

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