--- title: "Wife Sues SpaceX After Rocket Test Leaves Husband in Coma" description: "Francisco Cadaba's skull was fractured during a botched rocket engine test. Two years later, his wife has sued SpaceX for negligence." date: "2024-02-01" modified: "2024-02-01" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/wife-sues-spacex-husband-coma" categories: - "Space" - "SpaceX" tags: - "elon musk" - "SpaceX" - "the digest" --- # Wife Sues SpaceX After Rocket Test Leaves Husband in Coma ![Francisco Cadaba's skull was fractured during a botched rocket engine test. Two years later, his wife has sued SpaceX for negligence.]() *\Image: Tayfun Coskun / Anadolu via Getty / Futurism\* ## Expendable Employees SpaceX is being sued for negligence by the wife of an employee who was [critically injured during a botched rocket engine test]() that left him in a coma, [*Reuters* reports](), as concerns over the workplace safety of the Elon Musk-led company continue to mount. The employee, Francisco Cabada, was one of over 600 SpaceX injuries that were revealed in a [*Reuters* investigation]() in November of last year. Cabada was injured in January 2022, when a piece of a V2 Raptor engine, which powers SpaceX's [Starship](), broke off during pressure testing. It was sent flying into Cabada's head, fracturing his skull. Over two years later, the father of three is still in a coma. The lawsuit was filed on his behalf by his wife, Ydy Cabada, in a state court in Los Angeles last week. "It would have been nice to get a call from Elon Musk," Ydy told *Reuters* in November. "But I guess workers are just disposable to them." ## Rush Job According to anonymous SpaceX employees who spoke to *Reuters*, the part that struck Cabada, a fuel-controller assembly cover, had a known flaw that was not addressed before the test was carried out. Just as damning, the investigation also revealed that senior managers at the Hawthorne California site where Cabada was injured were repeatedly warned about the dangers of rushing the engine's development. The sheer tally of injuries suggests that there's a systemic problem at work — one that's already led to the death an employee of [which SpaceX tried to keep under wraps](). Many more have suffered broken or dislocated bones, crushed hands, lacerations, and even injuries that resulted in amputations, according to *Reuters*. ## Breaking Point Per the news agency's investigation, both current and former employees have blamed the unsafe environment on Musk's extremely demanding deadlines — a [trademark of his leadership](). SpaceX, after all, is known to embrace the Silicon Valley ethos of "move fast and break things," which holds that with more failures comes quicker improvements. Sometimes, though, things can "break" quite catastrophically, and you end up with an [exploded Starship]() — or, far more tragically, injured employees. It's worth noting that this isn't the only Musk-led venture with workplace safety concerns. For years, the EV automaker Tesla [has come under fire]() for gruesome injuries that [have occurred at its factories](), amidst consistently [re-emerging reports]() that workers are forced to [sleep at the assembly line](). What will come of the lawsuit is unclear, but it seems that as long as a quick turnaround is the bottom line at these companies, workers will continue to pay the price. **More on SpaceX:** *[SpaceX Buys Mysterious Aircraft]()* ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()