Dishonest & incompetent CEO ruin the experience - Engineer Moon Express Employee Review

1.0
May 6, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

At the beginning of 2015, MoonEx had an excellent engineering team, led by Andy Aldrin (son of Buzz Aldrin). The best part of working at MoonEx was learning from this amazing team of smart people. The team was a great balance of experienced and inexperienced engineers. All were smart and new ideas were welcomed. Unfortunately, that's where the Pros stop.

Cons

The CEO, Bob Richards, is dishonest to shareholders and employees alike and is a very poor communicator to the rest of the company. He has failed to provide a vision or roadmap to the engineering staff other than paying lip service to the GLXP goals without a real intent to meet them (the CEO does not consider the acquisition of a launch vehicle as a priority). The consensus among the engineering team was that he just wants to live the life of a CEO without furthering the companies stated goals. In January of 2015, Bob fired Andy for reasons that made no sense to the rest of the company. A month later, he fired the majority of the engineering team because they had the gall to disagree with his decision. A month after that, Bob closed the MoonEx offices at NASA Ames Research Park, did significant damage to the relationship between MoonEx and NASA, and moved what remained of the company to Florida. All of these decisions were made without consultation with the engineering team and without warning. Employees at MoonEx are paid very poorly, especially the younger ones, and are expected to work 60 hour weeks even though they are not given clear direction on what they should be working on.

Explore other reviews about Moon Express

5.0
Dec 16, 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

For anyone interested in space exploration, working at Moon Express is a breath of fresh air. The company is small, which gives you the opportunity to blaze your own trail, and explore areas of interest. Living and working on the Space Coast of Florida, is amazing. Rockets launch monthly from Cape Canaveral, occasionally having three (3) or more launches each month. The night launches and flyback of the Falcon 9 is breathtakingly beautiful. All this while living in a vacation destination. The local area has all the amenities anyone could want (mall, movie theater, and many family owned & chain restaurants.) You can surf and fish all year round, and Orlando International Airport is a mere 40 minutes away. Take a cruise to the Bahamas, or spend an evening on the casino boat. Being part of Moon Express is being part of space history, and I am grateful I get to be a part of it. Their ambitious goal to be the first commercial lander on the Moon is within reach, and it takes a lot of effort to achieve. As a member of the team working to make that happen, your role directly impacts the mission. Since it is a small team it quickly feels like family.

Cons

Not everyone who wants to can be a part of this: As a small team everyone needs a high level of dedication, commitment, and ability to go with the flow, and work together. As a small company, policies and best practices are still emerging. Direction may be limited; you will be expected to learn what you don't know to get the job done.

3.0
Oct 11, 2018
Anonymous contractor
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I loved that this job gave me the skills to work in a field that is in my passion: propulsion engineering. I got to work with some excellent engineers who were nice and friendly. I got to work on the testing of their propulsion engine and develop skills that would come in handy for future jobs.

Cons

Their facilities was a big hassle with all the employees since we initially had to be cramped in an office as their other building was still in the process of being renovated. Once we were able to go out to that building, the A/C wasn't working so we had to make use of a small one in the window, however, wasn't very effective at cooling the room. The testing process took a long time and was hoping to get some hands-on experience with that part but unfortunately didn't because of the long process it took.

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