SpaceX’s Interview Process & Questions

SpaceX’s Interview Process & Questions

Last updated: April 25, 2025

SpaceX's Interview Process for Software Engineers: 4 Steps

Mid to senior-level engineers interviewing at SpaceX can expect the following process:

SpaceX has a hybrid hiring process. You apply to a general job posting, and the recruiting team will decide if they want to have a call. After you speak with them, they will shortlist your profile and show it to different hiring managers. If a hiring manager thinks there is a good fit, you’ll move forward to speak with them. If you make it through that call and an offline coding assessment, you’ll head to the onsite phase where you’ll be interviewed by engineers from the hiring manager’s team.

To work at SpaceX you need to be a permanent resident and/or citizen of the United States.

From what we’ve been told, the entire process can take about four weeks.

General advice:

Step 1: Recruiter Call

SpaceX’s recruiter call lasts 15 minutes, and it’s pretty standard fare – they’ll ask you about your previous experience, and why you’re interested in SpaceX.

It’s really important, at this stage, to not reveal your salary expectations or where you are in the process with other companies. We’ve written a detailed post about salary negotiation that lays out exactly what to say if recruiters pressure you to name the first number.

Step 2: Hiring Manager Call

This is usually a hybrid call, with some questions about your experience and some technical questions. As the hiring manager has picked your profile from a shortlist, they will have seen something in your background that they want to delve into. After that, you might get a system design question that relates to your previous work or the team you are interviewing with.

Step 3: Asynchronous Coding Assessment

This assessment should take you 3 hours, but you have 2 weeks to complete it. It takes place on Codility. Expect medium-level LeetCode questions that you can find online but with slightly different descriptions.

Step 4: Onsite

The onsite can be virtual or on-location. As above, try to actually go onsite if possible. Seeing the rockets alone is worth it but, they also like to meet people in person. You’ll get an additional 45 mins to have lunch with the recruiter. This is a great time to ask good questions and build rapport.

Types of Interview Questions to Expect at SpaceX

Coding

Don’t expect LeetCode-style questions at the onsite stage. Instead, you’ll see hybrid questions that have an algorithmic component, a coding component, and a design component. SpaceX likes to ask questions that make you think and draw on previous experience. A lot of their coding questions will bear some relation to real-world SpaceX problems. Talk through your approach, as it’s more important to show how you think than to reach a full solution.

From one of our users who recently went through SpaceX interviews:

The coding portion was more about normal logic and problem-solving design questions which did not require deep algorithmic knowledge: more about understanding the problem, asking the right questions, and providing SIMPLE and scalable design.

A sample question might focus on spare parts for rockets and how to keep track of them as they move in and out of refrigeration. You may have to write code that tracks and logs the time each spare part is out, for instance.

Below are the technical topics you’re likely to encounter in SpaceX interviews. To compile this list, we did two things. First, we spoke to some current and former SpaceX engineers. Then we cross-referenced all the anecdotes we heard with Glassdoor data AND our own data-set of mock interviews:

Outside of the topics above, you may see questions about data hazards, memory management, and generally questions that get at your understanding of how programming works under the hood (e.g., compilers).

System Design

Here you will likely be presented with a relatively straightforward design task but not given many details. For instance, you might be asked to design an inventory management system that involves multiple locations and items, similar to the example in the coding section above, except that in this interview, you’ll be focusing more on the design and less on the coding parts. In the inventory management system question, you’ll have to:

Note that these questions will intentionally sound simple, and your interviewer will not provide a lot of details – they’re looking to see how you deal with ambiguity and how you ask questions to fill in the blanks.

Behavioral

The behavioral interview is another critical step in the process. It’s possible that you perform well in this interview but poorly in one or more coding sessions yet remain in the process. If that happens you’ll likely be asked to do another coding interview.

Expect to encounter similar questions to the Amazon Leadership Principles type of interview during this round. One engineer we spoke to also said they were asked how they felt about working with Product Managers. They told SpaceX it wasn’t always necessary to work with one and the interviewer seemed happy.

How SpaceX Makes Hiring Decisions

Decisions are at the hiring manager's discretion but they look for consensus. If you fail a round you might be asked to complete an additional interview. For example, if you fail one of the coding rounds, you might get another to complete.