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

5.0
Jul 22, 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.

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5.0
Jun 17, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

good place to work and earn money

Cons

Heavy workload and long time work

5.0
Jun 29, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

* **Unmatched Mission & Impact:** You are literally working on rockets and spacecraft. The cool factor is 10/10. * **Brilliant Coworkers:** You will be surrounded by some of the smartest, most driven engineers in the world. * **Insane Career Growth:** SpaceX on your resume is a golden ticket. You will learn more here in 3 months than in 3 years at a normal company. * **Hands-on Experience:** They actually trust interns with real, critical hardware. No boring coffee-fetching tasks.

Cons

**Cons:** * **Zero Work-Life Balance:** 70-80 hours a week is the norm, not the exception. Say goodbye to your social life and sleep. * **Extreme Burnout:** The "hustle culture" is toxic. You are expected to treat the company as your entire life. * **Mediocre Pay:** The hourly pay is average, especially when you factor in the insane hours and the high cost of living in LA/Hawthorne. * **Chaotic Management:** Decisions can change overnight based on whatever Elon Musk tweets or feels like doing that morning.

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