SUMMER 2020 INTERNSHIP/CO-OP
SpaceX was founded under the belief that a future where humanity is out exploring the stars is fundamentally more exciting than one where we are not. We are developing the technologies to make this possible, with the ultimate goal of enabling human life on Mars.
SUMMER 2020 INTERNSHIP/CO-OP
SpaceX seeks extraordinary students to join us for Summer 2020. As an intern, you will work closely with your mentor and other employees who will help you apply your knowledge and grow your skills on projects that have a significant impact. You’ll also have the opportunity to have fun and network with other interns and employees through optional social and professional events. If you’ve demonstrated a commitment to academic success and motivation to apply your knowledge outside of the classroom, you are a great candidate!
Internships are available with a variety of engineering teams across the company including design, manufacturing and operations at Cape Canaveral, FL; Hawthorne (Los Angeles), CA; Irvine, CA; McGregor (Waco), TX; and Redmond (Seattle), WA.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:
- Must be currently enrolled at an accredited four-year university or college
PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:
- Application of technical skills outside of the classroom (examples: laboratory, research, extracurricular project teams, volunteering, personal projects or prior internship/work experience)
- Strong interpersonal skills (examples: leading a student organization or working successfully in teams)
- GPA of 3.5 or above
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:
- Must be able to work full time for a minimum of 12 consecutive weeks beginning in May/June 2020
- Interns at Cape Canaveral and McGregor locations must be able to provide own transportation
ITAR REQUIREMENTS:
- To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.
SpaceX is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with SpaceX is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.
Applicants wishing to view a copy of SpaceX’s Affirmative Action Plan for veterans and individuals with disabilities, or applicants requiring reasonable accommodation to the application/interview process should notify the Human Resources Department at (310) 363-6000.
TEAM DESCRIPTIONS:
AVIONICS: Designs, develops, manufactures, tests, analyzes and integrates all electronic hardware. This includes but is not limited to: power conversion units, analog and digital circuit boards, FPGA’s, communication system units and firmware as well as enclosure and wire harness development.
BUILD RELIABILITY: Ensures quality production of assemblies and piece parts that flow into the production of the vehicle and proactively improve the vehicle reliability. This group develops standard tools, processes, methods, design adjustments and requirements to ensure production reliability.
CUSTOMER OPERATIONS AND INTEGRATION: Serves as the main interface between technical teams and customers to ensure our missions are successful and timely. This group encompasses the Space Operations team, which focuses on revolutionizing spaceflight operations for cargo and crew Dragon missions, as well as future company missions. There are roles in product management, mission management, mission engineering and proposal development.
FLIGHT RELIABILITY: Reviews and certifies the vehicle’s test and flight readiness. This team works to maintain safe, reliable practices during operations and to bridge operational and design challenges between test and launch. Flight Reliability interacts with the engineering, production, test and launch teams from the planning stage all the way to launch for the purpose of reviewing the vehicle configuration and status.
SOFTWARE: Develops software used to design, develop, test and launch rockets, spacecraft and satellites. In addition to embedded software engineering, they also do simulations, distributed data management and develop analysis tools used in preparation for a launch. Their problem domains span embedded, fault tolerant, flight control, web, mobile, cloud and big data computing. The products that they develop run on low-power space computing platforms, mobile devices, desktop systems and in data centers.
LAUNCH ENGINEERING: Fly, recover, fly again. The Launch team works at our Florida launch sites, as well as Hawthorne headquarters on our Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy and Starship launch vehicles. Teams within this organization include but are not limited to: Ground Operations, Payload & Vehicle Integration, Recovery Engineering, Fleet Management, Launch Site Systems and Development Test.
MATERIALS ENGINEERING: Creates materials solutions to expand the capabilities of current vehicles and to push design boundaries for our future ones. They cover a wide range of materials disciplines from alloy development, large scale composite structures, additive manufacturing and traditional aerospace materials. This group’s work supports new designs, enabling re-usability of rockets and materials research focused on interplanetary travel.
PRODUCTION: Leveraging best-practices from a wide variety of industries, SpaceX aims to scale its production rate beyond that of any other launch company in the world. The Production group provides hands-on experience in a fast-paced environment with cutting edge technology. This group includes but is not limited to: Launch Vehicle and Spacecraft Assembly, Tooling Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Automation & Controls and Manufacturing Engineering.
PROPULSION: Creates advanced rocket and spacecraft propulsion systems. This team designs, analyzes, builds and tests engines that will one day take humans to Mars. SpaceX currently builds more rocket engines than any other organization in the country. Furthermore, the design and performance parameters of SpaceX engines are notably recognized throughout the industry.
PURCHASING: The SpaceX purchasing team is responsible for ensuring lowest product cost and risk through supplier management, strategic negotiations; spend analysis and continuous process improvement. An intern joining this team would expect to gain first-hand experience analyzing supplier and spend data, communicating with suppliers, purchasing direct and/or indirect goods or services, and support of various projects like creating and implementing new processes.
SUPPLY CHAIN: Improves and develops the business processes that enable SpaceX to design, build, launch and reuse the most advanced rockets in the world. Interns in this group will help innovate and improve efficiencies to ensure that the Supply Chain team is continuously evolving to meet its internal customer demands and to achieve SpaceX’s overall mission of sending humans to Mars.
TEST OPERATIONS: SpaceX tests every engine, component and stage for development and flight at a 4,000-acre state-of-the-art rocket development facility in McGregor, Texas. Interns will receive the opportunity to take ownership of projects related to the systems and hardware used to prove out the next generation of American rockets.
VEHICLE ENGINEERING: Designs, develops and qualifies hardware on all vehicles. This group partners with engineering and production teams to create innovative, mass-efficient vehicle and spacecraft structures. This group includes but is not limited to: propulsion components, structures engineering, in-space propulsion, integration & test, vehicle analysis, thermal & fluid analysis, life support systems and guidance navigation & control.