An employee died Friday at SpaceX’s Starbase launch site in South Texas, and the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) has launched an investigation.
The unidentified victim died around 4:17 a.m. local time on May 15, the San Antonio Express-News reported Monday, citing OSHA and local officials. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) later reported that the county sheriff confirmed to media outlets that an employee had died. OSHA confirmed to TechCrunch that it is investigating the apparent accident.
Representatives from nearby Brownsville police and fire departments did not respond to requests for comment. SpaceX and the newly merged City of Starbase did not respond to requests for comment.
The circumstances of the worker’s death were not immediately clear. OSHA told TechCrunch it would not release additional information until the investigation is complete, which could take several months.
The death comes just days ahead of the planned first launch of SpaceX’s upgraded Starship rocket. Elon Musk’s Astronaut also reportedly released a detailed prospectus for its initial public offering (IPO) this week, which is expected to be the largest ever if the deal closes next month.
SpaceX has long dealt with worker safety issues at its Starbase site, which handles Starship prototype launches and is an active construction zone.
In 2025, TechCrunch analyzed OSHA data and determined that injury rates at the Texas launch site were significantly higher than those of industry competitors, making it the most dangerous of SpaceX’s workplaces. A 2023 Reuters investigation uncovered dozens of previously unreported injuries and worker deaths at SpaceX’s McGregor test site in Texas in 2014.
In January, OSHA hit SpaceX with seven “serious” safety violations, including failing to properly inspect the crane before it collapsed at Starbase last June. The safety agency fined SpaceX the maximum $115,850 for six of the seven violations. SpaceX is contesting those penalties, federal records show.
The company has been hit with several lawsuits in recent years related to injuries sustained at Starbase. Last December, an employee of a SpaceX subcontractor filed a lawsuit after being crushed by a large metal support beam that fell from a crane. The employee, Eduardo Cavazos, suffered a broken hip, knee and tibia, and OSHA launched a “rapid response investigation,” as TechCrunch first reported in December.
OSHA subsequently closed its rapid response investigation without taking any punitive action, according to a TechCrunch public records request. And according to Cavazos’ attorney, the lawsuit was recently dismissed because his employees, who were subcontractors, had workers’ compensation insurance that prevented them from being sued.
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