How to get a job at SpaceX in 2026: the complete guide
SpaceX has roughly 1,569 open positions across 8 locations, hires about 0.2% of applicants, and works its employees harder than almost any aerospace company in the world. The interview process involves 7-9 rounds. About 40% of new hires leave within the first year. The ones who stay tend to describe it as the most meaningful work of their careers.
If you want to work at SpaceX, this is everything you need to know: what they hire for, how the interview works, what they pay, and what to actually expect when you get there.
Where SpaceX hires
SpaceX operates major facilities in 8 locations. Which one you target depends on what you want to work on.
| Location | Open Jobs | Focus | What You'd Work On |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hawthorne, CA | 559 | Falcon, Dragon, HQ | Rocket and spacecraft production, mission control |
| Bastrop, TX | 270 | Starship manufacturing | Next-gen vehicle production near Austin |
| Redmond, WA | 251 | Starlink satellites | Satellite design, manufacturing, ground systems |
| Brownsville, TX | 236 | Starship launch (Starbase) | Launch operations, integration, testing |
| Cape Canaveral, FL | 64 | Falcon launch ops | East Coast launches, pad maintenance, recovery |
| Vandenberg, CA | 39 | Polar orbit launches | West Coast Falcon 9 launches |
| Woodinville, WA | 35 | Starlink overflow | Satellite production expansion |
| McGregor, TX | 27 | Engine testing | Every SpaceX engine gets tested here before flight |
Hawthorne is still the largest site despite SpaceX moving its official headquarters to Starbase (Brownsville) in August 2024. The Redmond campus is growing fast — it's the third-largest hiring location and home to the Starlink satellite program that generates the majority of SpaceX's revenue.
What SpaceX hires for
The top hiring categories from our database:
| Category | Open Roles | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Mechanical | 241 | 15% |
| Software | 232 | 15% |
| Business & Finance | 193 | 12% |
| Technician | 172 | 11% |
| Aerospace Engineering | 164 | 10% |
| Electrical | 130 | 8% |
| Manufacturing | 125 | 8% |
| Operations | 106 | 7% |
| Supply Chain | 70 | 4% |
| Avionics | 66 | 4% |
This is a hardware company. Mechanical engineering, technician, aerospace engineering, electrical, and manufacturing roles account for over half of all openings. Software is the largest single category at 232 positions — split between flight software (C/C++), Starlink satellite and networking code, ground systems, and internal tools.
For non-engineers: SpaceX also hires extensively for business, operations, and supply chain roles. You don't need an engineering degree for every position.
Salary ranges
The average salary across all 1,569 listings is $89,000–$114,000, but this average is pulled down by the high volume of technician and entry-level positions. Senior software engineers can exceed $400K in total comp at L4. The equity component is significant — SpaceX stock options vest over 6 years (2-year cliff, then monthly), and the company's valuation reached approximately $800 billion in December 2025. Bi-annual tender offers let employees sell 10-25% of vested shares for cash.
SpaceX's valuation has roughly quadrupled from ~$210B (June 2024) to ~$800B (December 2025). Employees who received stock grants at the lower valuation have seen their equity appreciate substantially. This is the primary financial argument for accepting SpaceX's below-market base salary and above-market working hours.
The interview process: 7-9 rounds
SpaceX interviews are a marathon, not a sprint. The process averages 29 days and involves two distinct phases.
Pre-screening (2-4 rounds, remote)
Round 1: Recruiter screen (30-60 min) — Resume walkthrough, "Why SpaceX?", visa eligibility, relocation willingness. The recruiter will explicitly warn you about the hours. This is a genuine filter: if you hesitate about 60+ hour weeks, the process ends here.
Round 2: Hiring manager interview (60 min) — In-depth technical questions related to the specific role. Expect probing questions about every project on your resume.
Rounds 3-4: Team member interviews (60 min each) — Highly technical, role-specific. Software roles may include HackerRank tests at approximately LeetCode medium difficulty. Hardware roles get domain-specific problems in structures, fluids, thermal, or controls.
On-site (4-6 rounds, full day)
The on-site takes place at whichever facility you'd work at — Hawthorne, Starbase, Cape Canaveral, or Redmond.
- Facility tour (25 minutes with your recruiter)
- Lunch (45 minutes with recruiter — use this to ask smart questions)
- Project presentation: You submit 5 project ideas before the visit; SpaceX picks one. You present it to the team, including source code if applicable. This is a critical differentiator — prepare thoroughly.
- Technical deep-dives: Multiple rounds of whiteboarding, coding, or hardware problem-solving
- Behavioral interviews: STAR method, but SpaceX cares specifically about your response to failure, ability to self-direct, and comfort with ambiguity
Critical rule: Every interviewer must give a "thumbs up." A single "no" from any interviewer means rejection, regardless of how well other rounds went.
The ITAR requirement
This trips up many international applicants: SpaceX can only hire US persons — US citizens, permanent residents (green card holders), asylees, or refugees. This applies to virtually all roles because rocket technology is classified as munitions under ITAR export control regulations. There are no exceptions or workarounds.
If you're not a US person, getting a green card is the prerequisite to even applying.
Work culture: the honest version
SpaceX's Glassdoor rating is 3.7/5 across 3,615+ reviews, with career opportunities (4.0) and compensation (3.8) scoring well and work-life balance (2.4) scoring terribly.
The hours: 50-60 per week is the baseline for most roles. During launch campaigns, vehicle integration pushes, or critical milestones, 70-80 hours is common. Some periods exceed 100 hours per week. The recruiter warns you. Believe them.
The turnover: Approximately 40% of new hires leave within the first year. Among those who survive the first year, roughly one-third stay 5+ years. The people who stay tend to be deeply mission-motivated and personally energized by the pace.
The learning curve: SpaceX gives engineers significant autonomy and responsibility early. New grads can be working on flight hardware within weeks. The flip side: no hand-holding, minimal formal training, and the expectation that you'll figure things out quickly.
The mission effect: Even negative reviews consistently acknowledge that the mission — making humanity multiplanetary — is genuine and motivating. People leave SpaceX because of burnout, not because they stopped believing in the work.
Benefits
- Equity: Stock options with 6-year vesting (2-year cliff) + ESPP at 15% discount
- PTO: 3 weeks starting, 4 weeks after 5 years, ~10 holidays, 5 sick days
- Healthcare: Comprehensive medical, dental, vision
- Food: Subsidized on-site dining (~$5 breakfast/lunch, ~$3 dinner at Hawthorne)
- 401(k): Available, with company match
SpaceX does not offer a 9/80 schedule. There is no "every other Friday off" — if anything, many employees work most Saturdays.
Internships: the best way in
SpaceX's internship program runs 12 weeks (primarily summer, June-August) across all major locations. Interns earn $35-$45/hour and receive housing/relocation stipends. Approximately 70-85% of strong-performing interns receive full-time return offers at $120K-$180K total compensation.
The internship application window peaks September-November for the following summer. The Summer 2026 Engineering Internship/Co-op is already posted. What they look for: students at strong engineering programs, prior hands-on project experience (rocketry clubs, FSAE, robotics), and genuine passion for the mission.
10 tips from people who got hired
Employee referrals matter. 10% of hires come through referrals, and referred candidates move faster through the pipeline. If you know anyone at SpaceX, ask.
Tailor your resume to the specific role. SpaceX receives thousands of applications per position. Generic resumes get filtered. Match the job description's keywords and requirements.
Highlight hands-on projects. Rocketry clubs, personal builds, robotics competitions, and hackathons carry more weight than coursework or GPA alone.
Prepare the project presentation obsessively. Know your source code, design decisions, tradeoffs, and failures cold. This is where you differentiate from other technically qualified candidates.
Be honest about failures. SpaceX values resilience. When discussing past projects, mention what went wrong and what you learned.
Know fundamentals. Interviewers test first-principles knowledge — thermodynamics, structures, fluid dynamics, orbital mechanics, algorithms — not memorized answers.
Answer "Why SpaceX?" specifically. Mention actual programs (Starship, Starlink, Mars). Vague answers about "working on cool stuff" don't differentiate you.
Accept the hours tradeoff before applying. If 60+ hour weeks aren't acceptable to you, save both your time and theirs.
Apply to multiple roles. If your top choice doesn't work out, recruiters sometimes redirect strong candidates to other teams.
Time your application. SpaceX hires on a rolling basis, but the highest-volume hiring happens Q1 (January-March) and Q3 (July-September).
Browse all 1,569 SpaceX job listings on Zero G Talent. For location-specific information, see our guide to SpaceX Redmond. For salary comparison across the industry, see our entry-level aerospace salary guide or Northrop Grumman salary breakdown.
