SpaceX didn’t properly inspect crane before collapse at Starbase, OSHA says

Summary

SpaceX didn’t properly inspect a hydraulic crane that had recently been repaired before it collapsed at the company’s Starbase, Texas facility last June, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. As a result, the federal safety agency has hit SpaceX with seven “serious” violations related to its investigation, which it opened one day after the crane collapse. OSHA issued the maximum financial penalty it can levy on six of those “serious” violations, giving Elon Musk’s spaceflight company a combined fine of $115,850. OSHA’s probe is still open according to the agency’s website. It’s still unclear whether any workers were harmed in the accident. SpaceX is able to contest the penalties; the company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The penalty and violations come as SpaceX is set to ramp up activity at the Starbase facility, partly fueled by a race to fulfill President Donald Trump’s goal of returning astronauts to the Moon by the end of his second term. The company has clearance from the Federal Aviation Administration to perform as many as 25 Starship launches in Texas this year. At the same time, it is undergoing rapid expansion of the launch complex to meet Musk’s grand ambitions of building thousands of Starship rockets per year. SpaceX has had a long history of injuries at the South Texas launch complex. A 2023 Reuters report uncovered dozens of previously-unreported injuries — and one employee death — that happened as the facility was built up across the last decade. A TechCrunch analysis of OSHA data last year showed SpaceX has a much higher injury rate at the Starbase site than at other facilities run by the company, or those of its industry peers. Accidents keep happening, too. In December, an employee of a SpaceX subcontractor filed a lawsuit against SpaceX after he was allegedly crushed by a large metal support dropped from a crane. OSHA is also investigating that accident, as TechCrunch first reported. The crane co...