SpaceX worker injury rates at Starbase outpace industry rivals

According to the company’s staff protection record, SpaceX workers are more likely to be injured while working in Starbase compared to its other production facilities.

Starbass, a wide launch-o-manufacturing site that recently included its own Texas City, is about six times higher than the average of comparable space vehicles, and about three times more injuries from space production in 2024, according to the log injury rate in May. The external injury has continued since 2019 after the Starbase Injury data was shared with the SpaceX Federal regulator.

The home of the most ambitious program in Starbase SpaceX: A completely reusable, called ultra-lift rocket starship. The company is moving at a brakes speed to bring the Starship online to launch Starlink Internet satellite and other pedals.

Because The first orbit test of the Starship April 2023, SpaceX tried to flight eight additional integrated. Three times of this test, The company has created history By catching a huge super heavy booster with the “chopstick” arms attached to the launch towers.

Data suggests that SpaceX costs rapid progress. And when the injury rates do not provide the entire image of the protection culture in the Sterbece alone, they give a rare glimpse of the working conditions of the world’s top space agencies.

Sterbus

The OSHA uses a standard protection metric called Total Recordable Facts Rate (TRIR) to measure the protection record of a company and compare it to industrial peers such as the Blue Origin and the United Launch Alliance. There are universally available data limitations. It does not distinguish between minor injuries like sewing compared to sewing, such as separation.

TechCrunch has calculated the truck based on that data, which includes the total events and total hours of hours working by SpaceX staff on each site.

Starbes, which plays a central role in the mission to make the life of Elon Mask, CEO of SpaceX, is an outsider throughout the industry and overall industry. According to data submitted to the OSH, when it was injured in every 5 workers in 2021, it was injured at the top, when it was appointed an average of 2,695 workers. The injured starbass employees were unable to perform their general employment duties for a total of 1.5 restricted tariffs, and on 656 lost periods where injuries were unable to work on them.

The US government classified Starbus as a spacecraft production operation operation. The rate of injury in this sector has dropped dramatically Since 1994Eliminate 42 workers out of 4.2 wounds 0.7 hit per 100 workers in 2023From the Historical Tihasic data from the Labor Statistics Bureau. (BLS calculates these rates through its annual organization survey, which asks the same information found in the injury of OSAH.) But despite major changes in the security process throughout the industry, Starbes is closer to the rate 30 years ago.

Injury rates throughout all production facilities in SpaceX – which include the development and test site of McGrigor in Texas; A Starlink Satellite Production Complex in Bastrop, Texas; Falcon Rocket Complex in Hathrne in California; And another satellite manufacturing site in Washington’s Redmond – this is 2.28.

These other benefits report the low truck rate, though most are still more than the average industry. For example, 2024 Data shows the Tree Rate of McGregor 2.48, Bestropop 3.49, Hathurn 1.43, Redmond Site 2.89. Overall a 2024 truck for AirSpace Manufacturing is 1.6.

SpaceX also operates a number of non-producing sites, including sites launched at Both coasts, office in California and Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg Space Force Base.

Former OSHA Chief of Staff Debbie Berkovits Techchen has told TechCrunch that Starbes’ Trier “is a red flag that has serious security problems that need to be resolved.”

However, there is a controversy among the security professionals about the injury rate among the security professionals, especially the fatal events, and especially for smaller companies. A recent paper Treyer has raised questions about the statistical validity and supports that companies use alternative measures of security functionality instead.

In the past four years, six of the 14 OSHA inspections in SpaceX facilities involves accidents and injuries in Starbes. These include a partial finger division in 2021 and a crane collapse in June 2025, the next visit is still underway. Investigated by other news outlets With reuters Previously, hundreds of uncovered workers have sought injuries, including crushed organs and a fatalities.

The rate of 2021 injury in Starbase identifies improvement compared to the previous year, which has placed 5.5 wounds per 5 workers in 2021 and the top 5 in 2022. However, it still leads the ground-based facilities in SpaceX and it has only earned second place with the West Coast Booster Recovery Operations, which contains the trimester of 7..6.

Through the OSHA Email, Starbes’ Trier confirmed TechCrunch’s calculation, but otherwise he did not answer the injury rate. SpaceX does not respond to the request for comment.

NASA steak

NASA has a large part of the development of Starship. Agency depends on using rockets to return people to the moon before the end of this decade and it is Pay more than $ 4 billion In SpaceX for two crew starship flights on the lunar surface.

Both contracts Starship Lander And SpaceX’s International Space Station has a special clause for commercial crew services that allow the agency to take action in the violation of a major or “intention” or “repeat” OSHA violation of the agency.

Although the high triang rate may be proved to be a security problem in continuously, it is not an automatic trigger for action and does not fall Under the definition A “major breach of protection” in their contract.

“NASA is often in contact with its partners, including SpaceX to ensure protection from the perspective of the NASA, and is in regular contact with the agency during the administration of the General Agreement,” NASA’s spokesperson told TechCranch in response to a question about the company’s trier. “Protection is universal in favor of NASA Mission. The company is working to create and maintain a healthy protection culture with all our commercial partners.”

Starbase still leads the pack among vehicular rocket manufacturers: Alabama’s dicature is facilitating the production facility, the truck is 1.12 per 100 workers; In the Rocket Park of Blue Origin on the coast of Florida, the rate is 1.09.