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Hey everybody. 
Welcome back to the Elon Musk 

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Podcast. 
This is a show where we discuss 

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the critical crossroads that 
shape SpaceX, Tesla X, The 

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Boring Company, and Neurolink. 
I'm your host, Will Walden. 

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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 

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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 

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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 

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listening today. 
I really do appreciate your 

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support. 
If you could take a second and 

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hit the subscribe or the follow 
button on whatever podcast 

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platform that you're listening 
on right now, I greatly 

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appreciate it. 
It helps out the show 

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tremendously and you'll never 
miss an episode. 

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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 

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support the show even more, go 
to patreon.com/stagezero and 

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please take care of yourselves 
and each other and I'll see you 

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tomorrow.