Image: Tesla
Tesla and SpaceX are ramping up hiring across multiple engineering disciplines as Elon Musk pushes both companies toward an ambitious goal: producing 100 gigawatts of solar capacity per year in the United States.
In a series of posts on X, SpaceX Vice President of Starlink Engineering Michael Nicolls said the company is actively recruiting engineers to help develop technologies for AI-powered satellites and orbital data centers. The roles span solar, automation, manufacturing, mechanical, electrical, optics, and software engineering, with positions based out of SpaceX facilities in Austin and Seattle.
Nicolls also revealed SpaceX is hiring “elite engineers” for its new 230 MeV cyclotron facility in Florida, which will bring single-event radiation testing in-house to accelerate development across the company’s launch vehicles.
On the Tesla side, Vice President of Powertrain and Energy Engineering Bonne Eggleston shared on LinkedIn that Tesla is building 100 GW of solar manufacturing capacity in the U.S., encouraging qualified engineers to get in touch. The hiring push aligns closely with recent comments from Musk, who said during Tesla’s Q4 earnings call — and again in a recent interview — that both Tesla and SpaceX now have a mandate to scale solar production to 100 gigawatts per year domestically.
That scale-up won’t just require talent, but also significant physical infrastructure. Ramping solar output to that level would almost certainly mean new factories, expanded production lines, or entirely new manufacturing campuses across the U.S. Tesla has already hinted at what’s coming, recently unveiling new U.S.-made solar panels designed to slash installation time by 33%, a move aimed at speeding up deployment as production increases.
For SpaceX, solar manufacturing is increasingly intertwined with its ambitions in orbit. As the company works toward AI-powered satellite constellations and space-based data centers, access to massive, reliable energy generation becomes a critical piece of the puzzle. Building that capability in-house — and on U.S. soil — gives Musk’s companies tighter control over cost, supply chains, and long-term scaling.
With hiring now underway across solar, AI, manufacturing, and advanced testing facilities, Tesla and SpaceX appear to be laying the groundwork for one of the most aggressive clean energy manufacturing pushes ever attempted in the U.S.
