SpaceX safety failures and worker death raise questions about corporate accountability at Starbase
By
Heather Marsh
If you only eat one bagel today, this is the bagel.
Summary
A critical opinion piece examining SpaceX's safety record and corporate culture under Elon Musk, focusing on the death of contractor Jose Luis Bautista in May 2026 due to an improperly secured beam at Starbase, and OSHA violations for a crane collapse incident. The article argues that SpaceX operates with impunity, prioritizing speed and Musk's vision over worker safety, while criticizing the broader culture of regulatory capture and corporate accountability in the space industry.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledOn May 15 2026, Jose Luis Bautista, a 25-year-old contractor from Donna, Texas, was killed due to an improperly secured beam at SpaceX's Starbase complex.
What very interesting times we live in. On the one hand, we are about to make batteries out of sodium instead of lithium... On the other hand, Elon.
OSHA issued seven serious violations for a separate incident, failing to properly inspect a crane before it collapsed at Starbase in June 2025.
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