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SpaceX crane collapse causes OSHA Investigation · Elon Musk Podcast

• 0:01
  Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Elon Musk
• 0:04
  Podcast. This is a show where we discuss
• 0:07
  the critical crossroads that shape SpaceX, Tesla X, The
• 0:11
  Boring Company, and Neurolink. I'm your host, Will Walden.
• 0:17
  A crane collapsed at SpaceX, a star based facility in Texas, on
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  Tuesday, triggering an official investigation by the
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  Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
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  And the federal agency confirmed it had opened the case after
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  footage of the incident appeared online.
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  So this is from a live stream from Lab Padre, which is a
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  SpaceX focused YouTube channel. They have live streams, they
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  have commentary, they have podcasts, etcetera.
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  Go check them out on YouTube. They're one of our buddies in
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  this video spread very quickly across X, which amplified the
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  concerns about Spacex's on site safety practices.
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  The public wants to know if SpaceX is keeping its workers
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  safe as it chases after Mars. Now I can tell you I was there
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  for about 10 or 11 months. I was about, let's say about a
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  year at Starbase, documenting the process of SpaceX building
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  Starships. And I was talking to the
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  workers. I was on the side of the road at
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  Starbase, and I can vouch for all the safety concerns that
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  people are having. But also I know that these
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  people were doing as much as they could to be as safe as
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  possible at Starbase. So when it comes down to it, I
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  hope the they don't find anything against SpaceX, but I
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  really hope everyone's safe at Starbase because all those
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  people were very, very nice and very cordial.
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  Just good people. They were making a living
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  working hard on the sun. So if OSHA finds something wrong
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  in SpaceX, I hope they fix it as soon as possible and nobody else
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  gets hurt now. OSHA said it will release more
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  information once its investigation is finished, but
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  for now, officials have not confirmed whether anyone was
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  hurt in this collapse. I don't think so.
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  And SpaceX has not commented and not reached out to us after we
• 2:12
  asked him for comment on this. Elon Musk and senior executives
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  at SpaceX didn't respond to us. The company has previously dealt
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  with safety related criticism and regulatory scrutiny tied to
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  workplace practices at its various sites.
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  Most of those were settled. They're OK.
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  People were hurt a little bit and they were injured, but they
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  came out ahead after everything and they were fine afterwards.
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  So Spacex's had safety issues in the past that go beyond the
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  aerospace industry. In 2014, employee named Simon
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  LeBlanc died while working on site.
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  Osha's final report concluded that SpaceX failed to protect
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  him from a hazard that was clearly identifiable.
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  That incident led to a renewed debate about the company's
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  approach to Occupational Safety, particularly around high risk
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  work environments like launch sites and construction zones,
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  which is basically all of Starbase now.
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  This latest incident arrives just days after the booster
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  explosion. Sorry, the ship explosion during
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  a ground test at Massey's. Now these large scale explosions
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  have become frequent enough that they no longer surprise close
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  observers at Star Base. However, they continue to
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  attract attention from environmental organizations and
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  local officials, especially when the fallout effects surrounding
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  land or wildlife. Now, following the most recent
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  blast on June 18th, SpaceX said the surrounding area was not
• 3:43
  harmed, but independent assessments have not yet
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  confirmed Spacex's claim. So environmental advocacy groups
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  in both the US and Mexico argue that repeated test failures at
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  star base have negatively affected habitats along the Gulf
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  Coast. These include breeding grounds
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  for endangered birds and sensitive marine ecosystems.
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  While SpaceX disputes those assertions, the legal and
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  environmental pressure on the company has steadily increased
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  since 2022, when Starship testing entered a more active
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  phase. This crave collapse adds to the
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  list of infrastructure issues at Starbase, which serves as the
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  central development hub for Starship.
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  And this is the rocket that SpaceX plans to send to Mars.
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  It's also a key part of the Artemis program for NASA.
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  SpaceX won a multibillion dollar contract with NASA to develop a
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  lunar Lander called the HLS, and they beat out Blue Origin and
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  Dianetics to get this spot. And this collapse raises
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  questions about the readiness and reliability of the site
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  supporting these government backed missions.
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  Now, SpaceX received $20 billion in federal contracts from NASA
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  and the DoD, placing it among the largest government
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  contractors in aerospace. That level of public funding has
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  sparked ongoing concerns about oversight, especially when
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  safety lapses occur at federally subsidized facilities.
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  If you pay your tax money towards building aerospace
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  infrastructure such as that, a star base and the Rockets that
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  will propel humans back to the moon and to Mars eventually want
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  it done in a Safeway, everybody does.
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  Everybody wants to subsidize humans trip to Mars.
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  Everyone that does, they want it done in a safe manner and SpaceX
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  for the most part has done a good job at that.
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  Now, the fact that the crane failure happened on the same
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  grounds as a NASA projects heightens the stakes.
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  And I'm sure NASA was made aware of this crane and they're also
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  probably going to investigate it.
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  At least ask us a couple questions, some questions to
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  SpaceX representatives. Now, at the same time, political
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  shifts may change the dynamic between regulators and companies
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  like SpaceX. Trump previously launched a cost
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  cutting campaign. It's DOGE, which is actually led
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  by Elon Musk now. The effort resulted in reducing
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  staffing and funding for agencies like OSHA.
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  Imagine that. At least 11 OSHA field offices
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  closed during the campaign, limiting the agency's ability to
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  monitor and respond to safety violations affiliate facilities,
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  just like Starbase. Elon Musk has pushed to install
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  Jared Isaacman, who's a Musk ally and a commercial astronaut,
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  on Spacex's rockets to become NASA's next leader.
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  The proposal fell apart, though, when tensions between Elon Musk
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  and Donald Trump surfaced. Just ended the bid before it
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  reached a Senate vote over Musk's deep ties to federal
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  projects and his influence on space policy remain intact.
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  NASA's own position remains uncertain, with its budget for
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  the next fiscal year still pending congressional approval
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  there. Looks like they're going to
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  slash the budget tremendously, and that's horrible for science
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  programs. Any substantial cuts could delay
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  parts of the Artemis program or shift priorities away from
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  SpaceX LED missions, such as SpaceX launching things to orbit
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  for NASA or sending things to other planets for NASA.
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  We'll see Now. There's no immediate link
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  between NASA's funding status and the crane collapse.
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  Both issues affect the company's ability to deliver on key
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  milestones in its development timeline for Starship.
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  Now, this crane collapse and the investigation from OSHA will
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  determine whether SpaceX followed required safety
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  protocols. If violations are found, the
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  company could face penalties or increased oversight.
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  And until then, we don't know what's going to happen.
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  And if they just have to pay a fine, they'll continue doing
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  Starbase until they launch to Mars and it'll be completely
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  fine unless somebody was hurt. And of course, then that will go
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  to court. Hey, thank you so much for
• 8:05
  listening today. I really do appreciate your
• 8:07
  support. If you could take a second and
• 8:09
  hit the subscribe or the follow button on whatever podcast
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  platform that you're listening on right now, I greatly
• 8:15
  appreciate it. It helps out the show
• 8:16
  tremendously and you'll never miss an episode.
• 8:19
  And each episode is about 10 minutes or less to get you
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  caught up quickly. And please, if you want to
• 8:25
  support the show even more, go to patreon.com/stagezero and
• 8:32
  please take care of yourselves and each other and I'll see you
• 8:34
  tomorrow.