Montreal student heading to SpaceX

A Concordia mechancial engineering student has booked his ticket to one of the most coveted space programs. This fall, he'll be interning for the SpaceX Starship.

It was watching the SpaceX launch of the Falcon Heavy Rocket in 2018 that ignited Simon Randy's desire to work for the ground-breaking company.

"Ever since then, I've kind of been gunning for SpaceX," he said. "And it's guided me in my various career and educational decisions.

Fortunately, the Montrealers didn't have far to go. Concordia's Space Program came highly recommended, and he said it gave him the hands-on experience he needed to pursue his love of rockets.

"We're currently building the world's largest student built rocket, and we'd like to be the first students in the world to launch a liquid fueled rocket into space," Randy said.

In the meantime, he's continued to look for internship opportunities to give him the skills to work at SpaceX.

It was after completing an internship at Rocket Factory Augsburg, in Germany, that he got his opportunity.

"I was stopped by this guy who was on vacation in Germany. And the reason he stopped me was I was wearing a SpaceX shirt," he said. "And he's actually my future boss. So I will be joining his team working in Starship components."

Randy says he also cleared another hurdle thanks to his American mother. SpaceX has a policy of only hiring Americans.

He'll be working on Starship - a reusable transportation system designed to carry heavy crew and cargo into orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond.

"Starship is the largest rocket ever built in history, and they're trying to, you know, land people on Mars and on the moon." He said. "It's the very edge of what we're doing as a civilization, which is space exploration."

Beyond working on the rockets, Randy hopes to one day go to space. He says he'll continue to work hard and take the opportunities as they come, even if it means taking longer to finish his degree.

"For now it's a four month internship, and if I'm able to stay a little longer I'd be happy to. It's not time wasted."