A hard gig, but really meaningful work - Anonymous employee SpaceX Employee Review

4.0
Oct 17, 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

"You get two weeks to say you're new, and then you're the expert." That was one of the first things I heard, and it was true -- for the responsibilities, for the amount of work, and for the consequences. You're working with incredibly bright people on some really tricky problems that always need an answer yesterday; and you'll eventually get proficient in the race between accuracy, rigor, and time. But people almost always have the right end-goal in mind; and they don't let ego or schedule drive best engineering practice and judgment.

Cons

The pressure is pretty intense, and it takes a lot of willpower to enforce a work-life balance -- it's manageable, but barely.

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5.0
Jul 3, 2026
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CEO approval
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Pros

Learn alot, helpful people, cool mission

Cons

long hours, ambiguous, high turn over

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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