In a recent development, Elon Musk’s aerospace company, SpaceX, is under legal scrutiny as it faces a negligence lawsuit filed by Ydy Cabada, the wife of Francisco Cabada, a SpaceX worker. The lawsuit stems from a serious incident on January 18, 2022, when Francisco Cabada sustained a fractured skull during a rocket engine malfunction. This incident was highlighted in a Reuters investigation last year, which exposed over 600 previously unreported workplace injuries at SpaceX, including crushed limbs, amputations, electrocutions, head and eye injuries, and even a fatality.
The lawsuit was filed in a Los Angeles state court last week, shedding light on the challenges faced by the injured worker, who remains in a coma more than two years after the incident. Despite numerous inquiries, SpaceX has not provided any responses regarding the legal action.
The specific incident leading to Cabada’s injuries occurred during pressure testing of the Raptor V2 engine at SpaceX’s facility in Hawthorne, California. A part of the engine, the fuel-controller assembly cover, broke away and struck Cabada’s head, resulting in a fractured skull. Former SpaceX employees familiar with the accident have indicated that it reflects systemic issues within the company.
Insiders revealed to Reuters that senior managers at the Hawthorne site had been cautioned multiple times about the hazards of hastening the engine’s development, coupled with insufficient training for staff and inadequate testing of components. Notably, the part that malfunctioned and caused the injury had a known flaw that was not rectified before the testing took place.
SpaceX has refrained from commenting on the broader Reuters investigation into worker injuries and has not provided specific responses to inquiries about the Cabada case. The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which has contracted SpaceX for private space initiatives with a payment of $11.8 billion to date, has yet to comment on the ongoing lawsuit.
It is important to note that SpaceX’s Raptor engines play a crucial role in powering Starship, the company’s advanced rocket designed for satellite and human space travel. NASA has future plans to utilize this rocket for moon missions scheduled for this decade, making the outcome of the lawsuit significant not only for the affected worker and his family but also for the broader implications on SpaceX’s operations and collaborations.
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