Worker dies at SpaceX's Starbase in leadup to Starship V3 megarocket launch

A worker died at SpaceX's Starbase site in South Texas early Friday morning (May 15), as the company geared up for the debut launch of its Starship V3 megarocket. The death occurred around 4 a.m. local time on Friday, according to the San Antonio Express-News , which further reported that the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is investigating the incident. Local officials have not identified the deceased or provided details about the death. However, The Wall Street Journal talked to sources who said the person was employed by a contractor and died after a fall. Starbase is the manufacturing, testing and launch hub for Starship , the fully reusable rocket that SpaceX is developing to help humanity settle the moon and Mars , among other tasks. The vehicle, which stands more than 400 feet (122 meters) tall, is the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built. Starbase is also one of the nation's newest cities; it became incorporated in May 2025 , by a vote of 212 to 6. Starbase has been quite busy lately, for SpaceX has been gearing up for a very important launch — the debut of Starship V3 (Version 3), an advanced, more powerful iteration of the rocket that's capable of reuse and deep-space flight. V3's maiden test flight will be the 12th overall for Starship, which began flying in fully stacked form in April 2023. …