A review from an 8 year employee - Lead Engineer SpaceX Employee Review

5.0
Oct 28, 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

There are several reasons to work at SpaceX. Here are a few of my top reasons: - Unlimited opportunities. No one will stop you from learning new things, helping other teams (if you have time), and increasing your skillset. - Tons of job satisfaction. The work we do is challenging, and the process can be difficult, but when the team is ultimately successful, there is no better feeling. - Innovation. SpaceX is always pushing the boundaries of what's been done before or what is even considered possible. This forces the employees to constantly think outside the box, come up with creative solutions to complex problems, and think critically. - Fun and exciting. What's cooler than launching and landing rockets, flying spacecraft, and eventually going to Mars? I can honestly say I've never once been bored at SpaceX.

Cons

- Achieving difficult things takes hard work. There have been days/weeks/months on end where I've worked incredibly long hours in order to be successful. - Part of innovating is that you're covering uncharted territory and this can tough. I've had times where I did not see an easy solution and it was frustrating or demoralizing. However, through teamwork and good leadership we've always found a way to get the job done. - The long hours can make work/life balance difficult.

Explore other reviews about SpaceX

5.0
Jun 10, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Incredible benefits, career movement is based on merit, stocks, mission focused, jobs with a measurable purpose, and incredibly passionate individuals

Cons

Clout-chasing and prestige among certain management and team members, greatly underestimate the magnitude of scale often.

4.0
Apr 6, 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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