A team member in El Segundo, California, submitted an idea through the site’s innovation portal, established in response to employee feedback. The idea was to update the propulsion manufacturing factory’s lighting to match other factories across the site — a step toward improving brightness, production, safety and quality.
“Once we realized the lights in our factory space were the brightest allowed, we came up with an alternative solution — clear lens diffusers,” said Joe Stevenson, senior operations manager for the El Segundo satellite factory. “This was a team effort where our technicians pushed for a change. We were initially told that our lights met the standard for visibility, but we didn’t stop at just ‘meeting requirements’ after listening to how our employees felt — the lights were too dim while they [technicians] were working.”
Employee ideas spark action
Herbert Escobar, the senior propulsion technician who submitted the light proposal in May, is among several other teammates who support the site’s Innovation Council — a group established in early 2026 in response to feedback from a companywide employee engagement survey distributed in November 2025. Factory teammates expressed the increased need for feedback and action when they shared innovative ideas and improvements for the factory with their leadership team.
“Changing the lenses made a tremendous difference for us on the factory floor,” said Escobar.
From brighter lights to better work
Teammates in El Segundo’s propulsion manufacturing factory read thermal prints — engineering guides for proper heat routing — and install components to help the satellite function optimally in the extreme temperatures of space.
