Rocket Scientist for a Semester: What It’s Like to Intern at SpaceX
This past semester, I had the amazing opportunity to intern at SpaceX in Los Angeles, CA. From start to finish, the entire semester was unlike anything I’d experienced before. Without further ado, here are the highlights of my internship.
The Team
Each intern at SpaceX is assigned a manager and a mentor. In general, your manager is someone you’ll touch base with generally once a week at a weekly tag-up. They’ll help you figure out the general direction of your project as well as keep you pointed in the right direction.
Your mentor is someone from your team that you’ll be working with on a daily basis. They’ll have an in depth knowledge of your projects and impart a ton of knowledge from day one. Don’t be afraid to pick your mentor’s brain and ask a million questions. The best way to ride out the learning curve and get going is to just ask when you get stuck. Your mentor is gonna be cheering you on every step of the way, but if you never ask, they might not even realize you don’t understand something.
Beyond your mentor and manager, you’ll most likely have a team you’ll be working with in some capacity, as well as engineers from other projects coming by to work with you on aspects of their projects or to help you out with yours. Your direct team though? You’ll see them every day, so reach out from the start and build some friendships. With my team, we often headed out to grab lunch together or to swing by the froyo stand. Everyone at SpaceX is super awesome, and my team in particular helped me feel right at home.
If you get a chance, definitely also enroll in the SpaceX new hire program on your first day. It’s a completely optional program where you’ll be paired with an experienced SpaceX employee as another (more socially inclined) mentor. Take a short personality quiz and the the system will automatically find a great match for you. For me, my mentor and I met every week of my internship and just talked about anything — he was awesome and helped me navigate through that first learning curve as well as find a bunch of cool experiences. Your mentor is meant as a friend to ask stupid questions to, get to know, and help you transition into your position.
Project Ownership
Interns at SpaceX are treated like full time employees and given ownership of a major project during their 12 weeks. You’ll definitely get a ton of other small projects or consult with other teams on their projects, but your main project will take up the majority of your time. Talk about time management!
While it’s definitely daunting to own a project and finish it from start to finish, it’s an amazing opportunity you won’t want to pass up on. You’ll gain technical experience through the work that you do as well as project management experience from the team that you’ll lead. The absolute coolest part of owning a project is the ability to adjust it and make it your own, as long as you accomplish the major goals set out in the beginning. Being flexible, crafty, and dedicated will help you create an awesome product and be successful.
Going into your internship, you’ll probably have an idea of what your project scope will entail, but don’t fear if you haven’t talked about it with your manager yet. You’ll get the details hammered out soon after you start. Definitely don’t be afraid to ask many questions to make sure you understand the key goals and scope.
SpaceX Site-Seeing
Before you finish, grab a friend or mentor or colleague and ask for a tour of SpaceX. Of course, you can always embark on your own exploring if you’re looking for some more leisurely perusing. After all, you’re working in a literal rocket factory, so there’s some cool things to see. Check out the giant forests of metal, the spin-forming (pro-top: stay clear of the sparks), and walk by the space suit lab. As long as you’re observing posted signage and staying safe, you can check out most operations!
Also don’t forget to grab a bike and swing by classic SpaceX sites like the Dragon Hatchery, the Starlink Factory, and the SpaceX Hyperloop. Be sure to grab a picture (while following photo guidelines) with the F9 rocket out front!
Beyond just site-seeing though, anywhere you go at SpaceX is sure to be mind-blowing. From the hanging Dragon Capsule, to other rocket parts that have been to space and back, every inch of SpaceX is sure to hold some awesome stuff to check out. My favorite things though? The rocket shaped trash cans, light up stairs, and iron man suit. It’s the small details that make a place, after all.
While you’re in the Los Angeles area, definitely also check out classic tourist sites like the LACMA, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Santa Monica, and the Hollywood Sign hike.
The Most Important Thing: Food
Before my internship began, believe it or not, the thing I had heard the most about working at SpaceX was its legendary cafeteria. As it turns out, all of those rumors are true.
The Rocket Bar: At the Rocket Bar on the main floor of headquarters, you can grab any drink, from an iced cappuccino to tea to hot chocolate. My suggestion? Hot chocolate with two pumps of hazelnut and oat milk- absolutely heavenly. From the Rocket Bar there’s also always the option of swinging by the froyo station, where you can customize and pick out your favorite froyo flavors and toppings. The best part? The Rocket Bar is free for all SpaceX employees.
Of course, there’s also the Smoothie Bar and walls of soft drink options, so there’s something to tickle anyone’s fancy.
As far as real food goes, you have plenty of options all at an affordable $5 per meal:
From Main, you can get the full cafeteria experience — choose a protein (like Salmon, Chicken, Tofu, Halibut, etc), some starches, and some veggies. Then swing by the salad bar to pick up a salad, cookies, and fruit. Don’t be shy either, ask for whatever you’re feeling that day — the more food the better.
If you aren’t feeling Main, head up a floor to the Mezz where you can treat yourself to restaurant style foods. The menu changes weekly, but be on the lookout for the Rocket Burger or the build-your-own Poke Bowl, those are my personal favorites. Then choose a couple sides, anything from double fried french fries to a healthy side salad.
Finally, you can always head out to SpaceX’s food trucks. Each day, different trucks are invited to campus. These are my favorite meals! Grab anything from sushi-ritos (one of my team’s favorites) to LA famous Baby’s Burgers.
Just Have a Blast
While you’re here at SpaceX, really take the time to enjoy the experience. Check out some of the social groups, meet a ton of awesome people, and cheer along to live-streams of rocket launches. I mean, after all, it’s not like it’s rocket science or anything :)