Propulsion Technician (Raptor Turbopump Assembly)
Location
Hawthorne, CA
Wage
$23 – $38/hr
Employment Type
Full-time
Posted on August 25, 2026
Location
Hawthorne, CA
Wage
$23 – $38/hr
Employment Type
Full-time
Posted on August 25, 2026
SpaceX is focused on developing technologies to enable human life on Mars. The Propulsion Technician for Raptor Turbopump Assembly will operate equipment, learn processes, and propose improvements to contribute to the creation of launch vehicles and spacecraft.
At roughly $31/hr, this posting comes in about 13% below the $35/hr median for welding jobs in Hawthorne, CA, where the middle half runs $31–$56/hr across 40 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 10% of the comparable postings we have wage data for. That gap is worth raising directly — in a market this size there is normally room to negotiate toward the median, particularly if you already hold the certifications the posting asks for.
We're tracking 40 other active welding openings in Hawthorne, CA right now, from 5 different employers. 15 of them were added in the last week. Across California as a whole we're tracking 596 other active welding openings from 294 employers. A metro this active generally means you have real leverage — employers here are competing for the same welders. Browse every welding job in Hawthorne, or widen the search to California.
SpaceX currently has 33 other openings live in California, which is usually a sign of either steady growth or steady turnover — worth asking which in the interview.
The most active employers in California at the moment, by number of open welding reqs, are SpaceX (33), Aerotek (16), and Volt (16). Volume like that usually means either a genuine expansion or a staffing agency working several client sites — worth knowing which before you apply.
Within California, the best-paying metros we track by median hourly rate are Redondo Beach at $65/hr, Long Beach at $49/hr, and Santa Ana at $48/hr. If you can relocate or commute, that spread is worth factoring in.
Pay figures are medians computed from live postings in the Welding Pros index, not from survey data, and they move as employers post. Propulsion Technician (Raptor Turbopump Assembly) figures were last recalculated when this page was built.