A worker died in an accident at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Texas on Friday.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the deceased, whose identity hasn’t been released by local authorities, worked as a contractor for a company that was helping build out the Starbase facility, SpaceX’s main testing ground where it develops its Starship megarocket. The worker died after a fall, sources told the newspaper.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) said Monday it was investigating the death, San Antonio Express-News reported. Chief Jarret Sheldon told the local paper that the Brownsville Fire Department was dispatched to Starbase at 4:17 AM on Friday, but were waved off minutes later after being informed that SpaceX’s emergency medical services were handling the situation.
It’s unclear what part of Starbase the contractor was working on at the time of the accident. Live views of the facility showed flashing lights from emergency vehicles approaching the under-construction Gigabay building, a towering structure designed to help manufacture future Starships, San Antonio Express-News noted.
The worker’s death comes just days before SpaceX plans to launch its Starship megarocket on its 12th flight test. The test, the first in over half a year, will be closely watched as the company plans a multitrillion IPO that’s anticipated to be the largest in history. The flight was originally slated for Tuesday, but on Sunday SpaceX pushed it back to Wednesday. No reason was given.
SpaceX has faced intense scrutiny over its workplace safety, especially at its Starbase facility. Musk has rapidly expanded the already sprawling campus as he races to ready his Starship rocket for lunar missions and deploying satellites into low-Earth orbit.
In January, two workers filed separate personal injury lawsuits against SpaceX after being injured while working on construction at the facility, with one claiming they were struck by a falling 200-pound bucket. While working at SpaceX’s Hawthorne, California facility, another was put into a permanent coma after a piece of a Starship engine flew off and fractured his skull. In 2023, a Reuters investigation found that at least 600 cases of SpaceX workplace injuries went unreported.
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