Great hands-on internship - Anonymous employee SpaceX Employee Review

5.0
Oct 12, 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Treated like a real engineer Great team dynamics -- I feel like I'm a part of my team and actually contributing to their work Awesome, cheap food and free coffee bar with great, friendly baristas I'm held constantly accountable and have complete ownership of my work -- I was thrown at a project on a really crazy cool part of the rocket, and now I am the expert on the part Lots of exposure to technicians on the floor -- I spend ~50% of my time with techs. Very open company culture -- you can read almost anything going on in any department just by being on the SpaceX intranet. It's super easy to get information, get what you need Ability to ask lots of questions and explore different groups is great -- if the group you intern in isn't necessarily what you want, you can come back to a different group no problem and this is encouraged rather than looked down upon The mission is everywhere, and everyone from front office engineers, to technicians, to facilities staff is super excited to finally get to Mars Limited to 50 hr/wk as an intern - I usually work more/about the same as the full-time employees on my team. I like the opportunity to get 1.5x overtime, but by no means is that an expectation. Shuttle to work from intern housing

Cons

Intern housing is not great-- it's just an ok apartment for a fair sum of money. The contract they have for this housing is ending soon and I know it is under review.

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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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