First, make sure you are eligible to work at SpaceX
Are you a U.S. Citizen ?
You must be a U.S. citizen to do an internship at SpaceX. This may seem unfair, but it is not a choice made by SpaceX. The United States don’t non-U.S. Citizen to work in the space industry because it is a very strategic sector in the international politics of the country. Also, you must be a permanent resident of the U.S.
Elon Musk talked about this during a conference :
What qualifications are required to do an internship at SpaceX ?
SpaceX distinguishes 2 types of trainees :
- Interns have to be currently enrolled at an accredited 4-year college or university. Software applicants or business operations have to be currently enrolled at an accredited university or college or within 6 month post-graduation.
- Associate engineers must have completed a bachelor’s degree from an accredited 4-year university within the past 6 months by start of employment or currently enrolled in a graduate program
There are no schools that SpaceX exclusively recruit from, and you must be available for a minimum of 12 weeks. But you have to know that SpaceX expects much more from its future interns and associate engineers !
SpaceX has a preferred cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher, skills using Windows Operations Systems and Microsoft Office, significant contributions to hands-on extracurricular projects in addition to a strong academic record :
- for technical roles an experience in engineering project teams, lab research, or a prior relevant internship/work experience
- for business operations roles a prior relevant work experience or internship
Where are located the SpaceX internships in the U.S.A. ?
SpaceX internships take place in different locations in the United States, depending on your area of expertise :
- Headquarters are located in Hawthorne, California
- Government affairs are located in Washington, DC
- Satellite development is located in Seattle, Washington State
- Rocket development facility is located in McGregor, Texas
- Launch sites are located in Cape Canaveral, Florida, and in Vandenberg, California
How to apply for an internship at SpaceX ?
To view the internship opportunities currently available at SpaceX, click here. There are currently no internship offers available ? Don’t panic and every week refresh this page and an internship opportunity might be available. SpaceX does not have a process for unsolicited applications.
What’s next ?
Once you applied for an internship at SpacX, you have to be patient. SpaceX receives a huge volume of applications for each opportunity available. It can happen a 6 months period before you receive an answer ! SpaceX will only contact you if you are selected to interview for a position.
You are selected to interview at SpaceX ? Congratulations, but stay focused. Before getting your internship, you will undergo technical phone screens, maybe a complete programming test, quiz, projects…
In the video below are some examples of questions SpaceX asked during internship interviews. Quite difficult to answer, isn’t it ?
Any advices ?
An aerospace engineering student gives great advices to get an internship in the space industry in this video :
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Picture by SpaceX
