Every day I have a "wow" moment - Strucrures Engineer SpaceX Employee Review

4.0
18 Oct 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

This is my first job coming out of grad school with an MS in mechanical engineering. I was a strong applicant and so was hired as a responsible engineer, who has their name on a component of the rocket or that is important to some part of flight. I am constantly learning new skills and becoming a better engineer. My boss is excellent and cares about investing in me so that I can become a more valuable team member. Work hours are reasonable and around 50 hour weeks for the most part, except around deadlines and other crunch times. I am surrounded by other driven engineers who form a young and vibrant group. It is hard to find people in engineering who are not highly driven and intelligent. Flat feeling hierarchy allows for good transparency from higher management and good communication. Truly inspirational CEO who has his head in the company in a good way and provides great guidance to the company. People here really look up to him.

Cons

The hours do get long sometimes and it can feel like you leave work just to sleep and then come back. The company moves fast and because of that, sometimes there are breakdowns in communication. Does not seem like a place with opportunity to move up and increase responsibility and leadership. The pay at SpaceX is adequate but nobody is making bank here. Benefits and hiring stock awards are competitive and make up for the pay somewhat.

Explore other reviews about SpaceX

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.

See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All