Starbase Injury Rates Exceed Competitors as SpaceX Targets Mars Mission

TechCrunch’s analysis of workplace safety records reveals that SpaceX employees face a greater risk of injuries at Starbase compared to its other manufacturing locations.

Starbase, a sprawling launch and manufacturing facility that’s essentially become its own city in Texas, reported injury rates nearly six times higher than the average for similar space vehicle manufacturing firms and approximately three times higher than the overall aerospace manufacturing industry in 2024, according to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) data released in May. This troubling trend has persisted since 2019, when SpaceX started sharing Starbase injury statistics with federal regulators.

Starbase serves as the launch point for SpaceX’s grandest endeavor: the fully reusable, ultra-heavy-lift rocket known as Starship. The company has been rapidly pushing towards the launch of Starship for missions involving Starlink internet satellites and beyond.

Following Starship’s first orbital test in April 2023, SpaceX has carried out eight more integrated flights. During three of these tests, a significant achievement was reached with the capture of the massive Super Heavy booster using “chopstick” arms attached to the launch tower.

The data suggests that SpaceX’s rapid advancements come with inherent risks. Although the rates of injury alone do not offer a complete view of the safety culture at Starbase, they provide a rare glimpse into the working conditions at one of the world’s leading space companies.

Examining Starbase Statistics

OSHA employs a standardized safety Metric known as Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) to assess a company’s safety performance in relation to industry counterparts, such as Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance. While this publicly accessible data has certain limitations, including not distinguishing between minor injuries requiring stitches and more severe ones like amputations, TechCrunch computed the TRIR based on these figures, which factor in the total number of incidents and total hours worked by SpaceX employees at each location.

Starbase plays a critical role in SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s vision of making life multi-planetary and is unique among the company’s facilities and the industry at large. Its TRIR peaked at 4.27 injuries per 100 workers in 2024, with an average workforce of 2,690, based on OSHA data. Workers at Starbase reported a total of 3,558 restricted-duty days and 656 lost-time days due to injuries that affected their work ability.

The U.S. government categorizes Starbase as a space vehicle manufacturing operation. Historically, injury rates within this sector have significantly decreased since 1994, dropping from 4.2 injuries per 100 workers to 0.7 per 100 workers in 2023, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Despite continued improvements in safety practices across the industry, Starbase’s injury rates echo those from 30 years ago.

Across all of SpaceX’s manufacturing facilities—which include an engine development and testing site in McGregor, Texas; a Starlink satellite manufacturing complex in Bastrop, Texas; the Falcon rocket factory in Hawthorne, California; and another satellite manufacturing location in Redmond, Washington—the total TRIR stands at 2.28.

While these other facilities report lower TRIR numbers, many still exceed industry averages. For instance, 2024 statistics indicate TRIR rates of 2.48 at McGregor, 3.49 at Bastrop, 1.43 at Hawthorne, and 2.89 at the Redmond site. The average TRIR for the aerospace manufacturing sector in 2024 is 1.6.

SpaceX also has several non-manufacturing sites, including barge operations along both coasts, offices in Sunnyvale, California, and launch sites at Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg Space Force Base.

Debbie Berkowitz, former Chief of Staff at OSHA, informed TechCrunch via email that Starbase’s TRIR “is a red flag indicating serious safety concerns that require immediate action.”

There remains an ongoing discussion among safety experts about whether TRIR is the most effective measure for assessing and forecasting injury rates, particularly when it comes to severe incidents like fatalities, especially for smaller companies. A recent study on TRIR questioned its statistical validity and advocated for organizations to adopt alternative safety performance metrics.

Out of the 14 OSHA inspections carried out at SpaceX facilities in the past four years, six involved incidents and injuries at Starbase. This includes a partial finger amputation in 2021 and a crane collapse in June 2025, with the latter inspection still underway. Investigations by other news sources, including Reuters, have uncovered hundreds of previously unreported worker injuries, such as crushed limbs and a fatality.

The injury rate at Starbase in 2024 reflects a slight improvement from the previous year, which documented 5.9 injuries per 100 workers in 2023 and 4.8 injuries in 2022. Nevertheless, it remains the highest among SpaceX’s land-based sites, second only to its west coast booster recovery operations, which have a TRIR of 7.6.

OSHA confirmed TechCrunch’s TRIR calculations for Starbase via email but did not provide additional insights into the facility’s injury statistics. SpaceX did not respond to requests for comments.

NASA’s Involvement

NASA is keenly interested in the Starship’s development. The agency plans to use the rocket for returning humans to the Moon by the end of this decade, having pledged over $4 billion to SpaceX for two crewed Starship lunar missions.

Both the contract for the Starship lander and SpaceX’s agreement regarding its Commercial Crew services to the International Space Station contain specific clauses that allow NASA to take action in the event of significant safety issues, such as a fatal accident or a “willful” or “repeat” OSHA violation.

Although persistently elevated TRIR levels may signal safety concerns, they do not automatically warrant interventions and fall short of the criteria for a “major breach of safety” as outlined in the contracts.

“NASA regularly communicates with its partners, including SpaceX, to ensure mission safety and maintains ongoing dialogs with the company in the course of standard contract management,” a NASA representative shared with TechCrunch when addressing SpaceX’s TRIR. “Safety is essential for NASA’s mission success. The agency continues to collaborate with all its commercial partners to promote a robust safety culture.”

Among operational rocket manufacturers, Starbase retains the highest TRIR: ULA’s manufacturing facility in Decatur, Alabama, has a TRIR of 1.12 injuries per 100 workers, whereas Blue Origin’s rocket park in Florida has a TRIR of 1.09.