Starbase Injury Rates Outpace Rivals As Spacex Chases Its Mars Moonshot

SpaceX labor are much apt to beryllium injured while moving astatine Starbase than immoderate of its different manufacturing facilities, according to institution worker information records reviewed by TechCrunch.

Starbase, a sprawling launch-and-manufacturing tract that precocious incorporated arsenic its ain Texas city, logged wounded rates almost six times higher than nan mean for comparable abstraction conveyance manufacturing outfits and astir 3 times higher than aerospace manufacturing arsenic a full successful 2024, according to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) data released successful May. That outsized wounded complaint has persisted since 2019, erstwhile SpaceX began sharing Starbase wounded information pinch nan national regulator. 

Starbase is location to SpaceX’s astir eager program: a afloat reusable, ultra-heavy-lift rocket called Starship. The institution has been moving astatine a breakneck gait to bring Starship online to motorboat Starlink net satellites and different payloads. 

Since Starship’s first orbital test successful April 2023, SpaceX has attempted 8 further integrated flights. During 3 of those tests, the institution made history by catching nan monolithic Super Heavy booster pinch “chopstick” arms attached to nan motorboat tower. 

The information suggests that SpaceX’s accelerated advancement comes astatine a cost. And while wounded rates unsocial don’t supply a complete image of nan information civilization astatine Starbase, they do connection a uncommon glimpse into nan moving conditions of nan world’s starring abstraction company. 

Breaking down Starbase numbers

Starbase City, an unincorporated municipality successful Texas. Image Credits:SpaceX

OSHA uses a standardized information metric called Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) to measurement a company’s information grounds and comparison it to manufacture peers, for illustration Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance. The publically disposable information has limitations. It doesn’t separate betwixt insignificant injuries for illustration stitches versus superior incidents specified arsenic amputations. 

TechCrunch calculated nan TRIR based connected that data, which includes nan full number of incidents and full number of hours worked by SpaceX labor astatine each site. 

Starbase, which plays a cardinal domiciled successful SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s ngo to make life multi-planetary, is an outlier successful nan institution and crossed nan manufacture arsenic a whole. Its TRIR topped retired astatine 4.27 injuries per 100 workers successful 2024, erstwhile it employed an mean of 2,690 workers, according to nan information submitted to OSHA. Injured Starbase labor were incapable to execute their normal occupation duties for a full of 3,558 restricted-duty days, positive 656 lost-time days wherever injuries made them incapable to activity astatine all. 

Starbase is classified by nan U.S. authorities arsenic a abstraction conveyance manufacturing operation. The wounded complaint successful this assemblage has fallen dramatically since 1994, dropping from 4.2 injuries per 100 workers to 0.7 injuries per 100 workers successful 2023, according to humanities information from nan Bureau of Labor Statistics. (BLS calculates these rates done its yearly institution surveys, which asks for nan aforesaid accusation recovered successful OSHA’s worker wounded forms.) But contempt awesome changes successful information processes crossed nan industry, Starbase is person to nan rates of 30 years ago. 

The wounded complaint crossed each of SpaceX’s manufacturing accommodation — which includes an motor improvement and testing tract successful McGregor, Texas; a Starlink outer manufacturing analyzable successful Bastrop, Texas; nan Falcon rocket analyzable successful Hawthorne, California; and different outer manufacturing tract successful Redmond, Washington — is 2.28. 

These different accommodation study little TRIR rates, though astir still transcend nan manufacture averages. For instance, 2024 information shows TRIR rates 2.48 astatine McGregor, 3.49 astatine Bastrop, 1.43 astatine Hawthorne, 2.89 astatine nan Redmond site. The 2024 TRIR for aerospace manufacturing arsenic a full is 1.6. 

SpaceX besides operates respective non-manufacturing sites, including barge operations disconnected some coasts, offices successful Sunnyvale, California, and motorboat sites astatine Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg Space Force Base. 

Former OSHA Chief of Staff Debbie Berkowitz told TechCrunch via email that Starbase’s TRIR “is a reddish emblem that location are superior information issues that request to beryllium addressed.” 

However, location is simply a statement among information professionals astir whether TRIR is nan astir reliable metric for assessing and predicting wounded rates, peculiarly superior incidents for illustration fatalities, and particularly for mini companies. A caller paper connected TRIR questioned its statistical validity and advocated that organizations usage replacement measures of information capacity instead. 

Of nan 14 OSHA inspections astatine SpaceX accommodation complete nan past 4 years, six progressive accidents and injuries astatine Starbase. That includes a partial digit amputation successful 2021 and a crane illness successful June 2025. The second inspection is still ongoing. Investigations by different news outlets including Reuters person uncovered hundreds of antecedently unreported worker injuries, including crushed limbs and 1 fatality. 

The 2024 wounded complaint astatine Starbase marks an betterment to that of nan anterior year, which topped retired astatine 5.9 injuries per 100 workers successful 2023 and 4.8 injuries successful 2022. But it still leads among SpaceX’s land-based facilities, and is 2nd wide only to its westbound seashore booster betterment operations, which has a TRIR of 7.6. 

OSHA confirmed TechCrunch’s calculation of Starbase’s TRIR complete email, but different did not respond to questions regarding that location’s wounded rate. SpaceX did not respond to petition for comment.   

NASA’s liking

NASA Crew-2 Mission successful 2021 returns to Earth. Image Credits:SpaceX nether a CC BY NC 2.0 license.

NASA has a awesome liking successful Starship’s development. The agency is counting connected utilizing nan rocket to return humans to nan Moon earlier nan extremity of this decade, and it is paying much than $4 billion to SpaceX for 2 crewed Starship flights to nan lunar surface. 

Both nan statement for nan Starship lander and SpaceX’s statement for its Commercial Crew services to nan International Space Station incorporate peculiar clauses that let nan agency to return action successful nan lawsuit of a awesome breach of safety, specified arsenic a fatality aliases a “willful” aliases “repeat” OSHA violation. 

While a persistently precocious TRIR complaint tin beryllium grounds of a information problem, it is not an automatic trigger for action, and does not autumn under nan definition of a “major breach of safety” successful their contracts. 

“NASA interacts often pinch its partners, including SpaceX, to guarantee information from a ngo assurance perspective, and remains successful regular interaction pinch nan institution during normal statement administration,” a NASA spokesperson told TechCrunch successful consequence to questions astir nan company’s TRIR. “Safety is paramount to NASA’s ngo success. The agency continues to activity pinch each our commercialized partners to build and support a patient information culture.” 

Among rocket makers pinch vehicles successful operation, Starbase still leads nan pack: astatine ULA’s manufacturing installation successful Decatur, Alabama, nan TRIR is 1.12 injuries per 100 workers; astatine Blue Origin’s rocket parkland connected nan seashore of Florida, nan complaint is 1.09.