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A comment on Colonizing Mars: A Critique of the SpaceX Interplanetary Transport System. Parent comment

Re:Colonizing Mars: A Critique of the SpaceX Interplanetary ... by pmoriarty on Saturday October 22, 2016 @01:58AM (#12767442)
"Musk said 5% of SpaceX is working on the project and that number will increase over time. That's already 250 of the smartest engineers in the world working full-time on the Mars project."

Correction: some of the smartest engineers in the US, maybe. But US laws don't allow SpaceX to hire anyone from outside the US.

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Re:Colonizing Mars: A Critique of the SpaceX Interplanetary ... by Inconel on Saturday October 22, 2016 @02:42AM (#12767553)
It is actually possible to get ITAR exceptions for candidates who aren't US Persons. I know there are engineers at SpaceX from the UK, Canada, and I'm pretty sure Australia as well. It is a pretty long and expensive process from what I understand so it is used only for those with very specific skills or knowledge. I'm sure it would also be quite a bit harder or impossible for candidates from China/Russia or less "friendly" nations.

This of course isn't to imply that SpaceX has a monopoly on talented engineers, I'm sure they exist all over the world.

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