--- title: "Video Shows Large Crane Collapsing at Safety-Plagued SpaceX Rocket Facility" description: "Elon Musk’s Texas Starbase is still reeling from its latest Starship explosion. Now, it has a crane collapse to deal with too." date: "2025-06-26" modified: "2025-06-26" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/crane-collapse-spacex-starbase" categories: - "Space" - "SpaceX" tags: - "elon musk" - "SpaceX" - "starbase" - "Starship" --- # Video Shows Large Crane Collapsing at Safety-Plagued SpaceX Rocket Facility ![Elon Musk’s Texas Starbase is still reeling from its latest Starship explosion. Now, it has a crane collapse to deal with too.]() *\Image: @esghound.com via BlueSky\* Elon Musk’s Texas Starbase is still [reeling from its latest Starship explosion](). Now, it has a crane collapse to deal with too. As eagle-eyed Starbase watchers flagged in a livestream from earlier this week, one of the cranes at the site of the explosion — which was, [according to *CBS News 4*](), powerful enough to be picked up by weather radar — collapsed in a heap in the middle of the day. "This has always been one of my biggest fears in every industry I've worked in," [tweeted Zack Golden](), the SpaceX fan who noticed the collapse on a livestream from LabPadre, a fancam site that records the Boca Chica, Texas facility. "I hope everything is alright." https://www.twitter.com/CSI_Starbase/status/1937577895137800693 Though there’s some speculation online suggesting that the crane had been [lifting the carcass of the exploded Starship]() when it collapsed, it's not clear that's been established for certain. We’ve reached out to SpaceX and LabPadre to ask if there’s any additional information or video to be shared about what happened there — and, more importantly, whether anyone was hurt in the process. Last week’s Starship explosion didn’t just [release a massive fireball]() and impact local weather radar in South Texas, but also, [as the *Associated Press* reports](), resulted in large pieces of debris landing in the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas. In its aftermath, the *AP* notes, Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum is investigating what international laws the Musk-owned company might have broken when the wreckage breached international borders. "There is indeed contamination," Sheinbaum claimed during a daily news briefing that also saw her threatening to file "the necessary lawsuits" once her country’s probe is complete. The facility that lives on a beach near the [newly-incorporated company town of Starbase]() has long been plagued by safety issues ranging from [debris showers from prior Starship failures]() and is the leading site of hundreds of recorded injuries at the company, [per a *Reuters* investigation]() from 2023. While there have been [no reported injuries]() in this most recent Starship explosion, we won’t be sure that the cleanup effort has continued that record unless SpaceX gets back to us — and we’ll be sure to update if that occurs. **More on Starbase:** [*Latest Starship Explosion Drastically Decreases SpaceX's Chances of Reaching Mars Without Having to Wait Years*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()