SpaceX

Advanced rockets and spacecraft manufacturer
Last updated:
January 6, 2026
Company details
HQ
Starbase, TX
HEADCOUNT
10000+
ORG TYPE
Corporate
SECTOR
Technology & Digital
About the company
SpaceX designs, manufactures, and launches rockets and spacecraft, with major programs including Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, Dragon, and Starship. The company also operates Starlink, a satellite internet network that combines spacecraft hardware, user terminals, and software. SpaceX works with commercial customers and government agencies, including NASA and U.S. national security missions. Much of the work is hands-on engineering, manufacturing, test, and launch operations.
Locations and presence
SpaceX runs major sites in the United States, including Hawthorne (Los Angeles), Starbase (Brownsville area), Cape Canaveral, Redmond, McGregor, Bastrop, Irvine, and Vandenberg. Most early-career roles are on-site because the work is tied to factories, test stands, and launch facilities.
Palpable Score
72.4
/ 100
SpaceX gives strong early-career access for engineers through year-round internships and a steady flow of “New Graduate Engineer” roles, with real pay ranges shown on many postings. The hiring bar is high and the process can be heavy, and public evidence on progression and retention is mixed, which keeps the score out of the top band.
Pillar 1: Early-career access

Score

16.0
/ 20
  • The company runs internships and co-ops that require full-time availability for at least 12 weeks and are positioned as a core entry route rather than occasional student hiring.
  • SpaceX advertises multiple “New Graduate Engineer” roles across different programs and sites (for example propulsion and mechanical roles tied to Raptor and Starlink).
  • The company states internships are open to both technical and non-technical candidates (with business operations routes alongside engineering), which widens entry-level access beyond a single discipline.

Pillar 2: Hiring fairness and transparency

Score

12.4
/ 20
  • The company makes several high-impact constraints explicit in early-career postings, including on-site requirements, extended hours/weekends language, and U.S. export-control eligibility requirements for many roles.
  • SpaceX has candidate-reported interview loops that commonly include a recruiter screen, technical calls, and a longer on-site stage that can involve presentations and multiple one-on-one interviews, which is structured but intense for first-job candidates.
  • The company uses application screens that can feel opaque for early-career applicants, such as asking for GPA and standardized test scores on internship applications, with no public guidance on how those signals are weighed.

Pillar 3: Learning and support

Score

15.1
/ 20
  • The company assigns interns to work closely with a mentor and includes optional social and professional events, which is practical day-to-day support for students new to industry work.
  • SpaceX builds structured learning into internships through leader presentations and “professional and personal development trainings,” which is more than basic onboarding.
  • The company has mixed early-career learning signals in employee feedback, including mentions of mentorship programs alongside reports that mentoring quality depends heavily on the specific team and manager.

Pillar 4: Pay fairness and stability

Score

15.3
/ 20
  • The company publishes clear internship pay by academic level in at least one current internship/co-op posting and includes paid company holidays as part of the student package.
  • SpaceX posts entry-level base salary ranges for some new graduate roles and spells out stability signals like healthcare coverage, a 401(k), paid parental leave, and paid time off.
  • The company’s pay transparency is inconsistent across early-career postings, with some new graduate roles listing no salary range even when similar roles in other functions do.

Pillar 5: Early-career outcomes

Score

13.6
/ 20
  • The company has strong early-career “portfolio outcomes” for interns and new grads because roles are framed around owning hardware or software through real deliverables, and intern reviewers rate the internship experience higher than the company’s overall rating.
  • SpaceX has persistent public signals of retention risk, with many employee reviews describing long hours and work-life balance strain, which can hit early-career sustainability.
  • The company’s alumni outcomes are visible in external reporting on former SpaceX employees founding venture-backed startups, but SpaceX does not publish early-career metrics like intern-to-offer rates, promotion timelines, or early-tenure retention.

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