OSHA investigating worker death at SpaceX’s Starbase in Texas

Federal safety regulators are investigating the death of a worker at SpaceX’s Starbase complex in South Texas, where the company is preparing for another test flight of its Starship rocket, according to local officials and media reports.

The death happened early Friday at Starbase, SpaceX’s private rocket development and launch site near Brownsville, according to the San Antonio Express-News, which cited the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Cameron County Sheriff Manuel Treviño told the Wall Street Journal that his office responded to a workplace accident but was not releasing information about the victim. People familiar with the matter told the Journal that the worker was employed by a contractor helping develop the Starbase complex and died after a fall.

The Brownsville Fire Department was dispatched to Starbase at 4:17 a.m. Friday, but crews were told seven minutes later that SpaceX emergency medical personnel were handling the situation, the Express-News reported, citing Fire Chief Jarrett Sheldon.

Local officials have not identified the worker. Treviño said his department assisted at the scene and that OSHA has since taken over the investigation, according to the Express-News.

SpaceX and officials with the city of Starbase have not commented on the incident, according to both outlets.

Starbase is SpaceX’s launch and production complex for Starship, the company’s giant rocket system being developed for missions to orbit, the moon and Mars. The site, located near the U.S.-Mexico border and the Gulf of America, has become the center of SpaceX’s Starship test program.

The death happened days before SpaceX’s next planned Starship test flight. The company delayed the launch from Tuesday to Wednesday but has not said why, and it was not immediately known whether the change was related to the accident, the Express-News reported.