A employee died at SpaceX’s Starbase release website in South Texas on Friday, and the Occupational Well being and Protection Management (OSHA) has opened an investigation.
The San Antonio Categorical-Information reported Monday that the unidentified sufferer died at round 4:17 a.m. native time on Would possibly 15, bringing up OSHA and native officers. The Wall Boulevard Magazine later reported that the county sheriff showed to the hole {that a} employee died. OSHA showed to TechCrunch that it’s investigating the obvious twist of fate.
Representatives for the close by Brownsville police and hearth departments didn’t reply to requests for remark. SpaceX and the newly-incorporated Town of Starbase didn’t reply to requests for remark.
The cases of the employee’s loss of life don’t seem to be instantly transparent. OSHA informed TechCrunch that it received’t unlock additional information till its investigation is whole, which might take months.
The loss of life comes only a few days forward of the primary deliberate release of SpaceX’s upgraded Starship rocket. Elon Musk’s spaceflight corporate could also be reportedly liberating the detailed prospectus for its preliminary public providing this week, which is anticipated to be the most important ever when that transaction takes position subsequent month.
SpaceX has lengthy handled employee protection issues at its Starbase website, which handles Starship prototype launches and is an lively building zone.
In 2025, TechCrunch analyzed OSHA information and made up our minds the Texas release website had an harm charge that a long way outpaced the ones of business competitors, and was once essentially the most unhealthy of SpaceX’s worksites. A 2023 Reuters investigation exposed dozens of previously-unreported accidents and a employee loss of life in 2014 at SpaceX’s McGregor, Texas take a look at website.
In January, OSHA hit SpaceX with seven “severe” protection violations for, amongst different issues, no longer correctly analyzing a crane earlier than it collapsed at Starbase closing June. The protection company dealt SpaceX the utmost monetary penalty on six of the ones seven violations, totaling $115,850. SpaceX is contesting the ones consequences, federal data display.
The corporate has been hit with more than one proceedings associated with accidents sustained at Starbase lately. In December, an worker of considered one of SpaceX’s subcontractors sued after he was once beaten by way of a big steel improve dropped from a crane. The employee, Eduardo Cavazos, suffered a damaged hip, knee, and tibia, and OSHA opened a “fast reaction investigation,” as TechCrunch first reported in December.
OSHA has since closed that fast reaction investigation with out taking any punitive motion, in step with a TechCrunch public data request. And the lawsuit was once lately dropped as a result of his worker, the subcontractor, has employees repayment insurance coverage that stops it from being sued, in step with Cavazos’ legal professional.
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