Inside SpaceX's Insane Headquarters

SpaceX Milestones

SpaceX has under its belt some insane milestones that continue to awe and inspire fans of Elon Musk. What started as a privately funded venture by a man with a dream is now the U.S. government's go-to for vehicles for space missions. They are the first to develop reusable rockets, something previously thought impossible. They are also the first private space flight company to dock at the International Space Station, the first private company to send a liquid rocket fuel into orbit, and the list goes on. They have a lot of firsts to their name, and a company like that needs an impressive headquarters where designers, engineers, rocket fuel developers, and more can collaborate and sometimes crash, just like how Elon Musk is known to sleep on the floor of his factory.

SpaceX Headquarters

SpaceX's headquarters spans 500,000 square feet, located in Hawthorne, California, just outside Los Angeles. This space was once a manufacturing site for the 747 aircraft, but now it's where SpaceX designs and builds 80% of their rockets. The mission control room is something out of a movie, featuring all the software and computer networks necessary to communicate with the rockets and capsules they launch into space.

Just across from mission control is the area where they conduct all their inspections. The space is climate-controlled since different metals expand and contract at different temperatures, and a consistent 68 degrees keeps them stable and allows them to perform the minutest precision measurements. The precision control area cools down even more, with robots and tools that inspect parts down to the thousandth of an inch to make sure everything is working just like it should.

The server room contains about 500 processors to compute fluid dynamics and carry out finite element analysis, and it acts as a service storage for their solid 3D modeling. But things get really impressive when you step into the manufacturing facility. A giant conveyor belt of components for the rocket zip around the space, and these are all parts that have made it through inspections and precision controls. SpaceX has one of the most incredible factories in the world, with the ability to build a Starship rocket in just 72 hours.

This area also has a shake room and a stress test facility. The shake room simulates the enormous acoustic and vibrational loads that components experience when they are shot up into space. If they make it through the ordeal in this room, they make it to the next stage. But according to Musk, it's where most of their stuff ends up breaking. In the stress testing facility, the parts are put in different environments to check if they can perform in the most extreme situations.

Software plays a huge role too, with software engineers carrying out daily tests of the system and running thousands of AI simulations to predict every possible outcome of a launch. As employees working in one of the greatest companies in the world, it's only fair that everybody gets to watch their rockets launch into space. For that reason, there is an entire section of the headquarters covered in glass to allow viewers front-row seats to the show.

Elon Musk's Office

Where does the brains behind the entire operation sit? Unsurprisingly, Elon Musk doesn't have a sprawling office with end-to-end carpets and a wall aquarium. That's too Bond villainesque. The truth is, Elon barely has an office at all. Instead, he walks around the factory and interacts with his workers on a day-to-day basis. He'll sit and work on his laptop in a common area and often eats during his meetings too, since he barely gets any time to himself.

Musk believes in transparency and openness in his workspace because doors limit communication, with the exception of their conference rooms whose glass walls turn opaque when they are meeting with investors, clients, and customers.

The Upcoming Texas Facility

Don't be too surprised when Elon Musk packs up his entire facility in California, though. California imposes the highest personal income tax in the country on its wealthiest residents, and given how Elon Musk is now the richest man in the world, this definitely has an impact on him. He has already moved quite a chunk of his Tesla manufacturing operations to Texas, and SpaceX is soon to follow.

Musk has already invested a great deal in the area, even donating millions to the local school district. The new Starship rocket is already being constructed in Boca Chica Village, Austin. It might be easier for him too, since he is constantly commuting from Texas to California on his private Gulfstream G650 jet, along with taking frequent trips to his Gigafactories in Germany and China.

What do you think of the SpaceX headquarters? Will the one in Texas be equally as great? Let us know in the comments below.