A worker has died at SpaceX’s Starbase launch facility in South Texas, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has opened an investigation, adding to a growing record of safety concerns at the site where the company is preparing to launch its upgraded Starship rocket.
The worker died at approximately 4:17 a.m. on 15 May at the Starbase facility near Brownsville, Texas, according to OSHA and local officials cited by the San Antonio Express-News. The Cameron County Sheriff confirmed the death to the Wall Street Journal. The identity of the worker and the circumstances surrounding the death have not been disclosed. OSHA confirmed it is investigating the apparent accident but said it will not release further details until the investigation is complete, a process that could take several months. SpaceX, the Brownsville Police Department, and the newly incorporated city of Starbase did not respond to requests for comment.
The death comes days before SpaceX’s first planned launch of its upgraded Starship rocket and in the same week the company is reportedly releasing the prospectus for what is expected to be the largest initial public offering in history when it takes place next month.
The incident is the latest in a long series of safety concerns at Starbase. A 2025 analysis of OSHA data found the Texas launch site had an injury rate that significantly outpaced those of industry rivals and was the most dangerous of SpaceX’s facilities. In January 2026, OSHA issued SpaceX seven serious safety violations connected to a crane collapse at Starbase the previous June, levying the maximum financial penalty on six of the seven counts for a total of $115,850. SpaceX is contesting those penalties.
The company has also faced multiple lawsuits related to worker injuries at the site. In December 2025, a subcontractor employee named Eduardo Cavazos sued after being crushed by a large metal support dropped from a crane, suffering a broken hip, knee, and tibia. OSHA opened a rapid response investigation into that incident but later closed it without punitive action, according to public records. The lawsuit was subsequently dropped because the subcontractor’s workers compensation insurance prevented the company from being sued directly.
A 2023 investigation by Reuters previously uncovered dozens of unreported injuries at SpaceX facilities and a worker death in 2014 at the company’s McGregor, Texas test site.
