diff --git a/packages/kernel-test/src/cluster-launch.test.ts b/packages/kernel-test/src/cluster-launch.test.ts
index e304fbf8e..bc28f7224 100644
--- a/packages/kernel-test/src/cluster-launch.test.ts
+++ b/packages/kernel-test/src/cluster-launch.test.ts
@@ -43,7 +43,10 @@ describe('cluster initialization', { timeout: 4_000 }, () => {
     });
 
   it('throws if globals scope throws', async () => {
-    await expect(launch('global-throw')).rejects.toThrow(/from global scope/u);
+    await expect(launch('global-throw')).rejects.toMatchObject({
+      message: expect.stringMatching(/^Failed to launch vat \S+ \(main\)$/u),
+      cause: { message: expect.stringMatching(/from global scope/u) },
+    });
 
     const vatLogs = extractTestLogs(entries, 'console');
     expect(vatLogs).toStrictEqual(['global throw']);
@@ -64,9 +67,10 @@ describe('cluster initialization', { timeout: 4_000 }, () => {
   });
 
   it('throws if buildRootObject throws', async () => {
-    await expect(launch('build-throw')).rejects.toThrow(
-      /from buildRootObject/u,
-    );
+    await expect(launch('build-throw')).rejects.toMatchObject({
+      message: expect.stringMatching(/^Failed to launch vat \S+ \(main\)$/u),
+      cause: { message: expect.stringMatching(/from buildRootObject/u) },
+    });
 
     const vatLogs = extractTestLogs(entries, 'console');
     expect(vatLogs).toStrictEqual(['build throw', 'buildRootObject']);
diff --git a/packages/kernel-test/src/endowment-globals.test.ts b/packages/kernel-test/src/endowment-globals.test.ts
index 61f30f512..4eafeb90f 100644
--- a/packages/kernel-test/src/endowment-globals.test.ts
+++ b/packages/kernel-test/src/endowment-globals.test.ts
@@ -205,13 +205,16 @@ describe('global endowments', () => {
 
   describe('kernel-level allowedGlobalNames restriction', () => {
     it('throws when a vat requests a global excluded by the kernel', async () => {
-      // Kernel only allows TextEncoder/TextDecoder — vat also requests URL
+      // Kernel only allows TextEncoder/TextDecoder — vat also requests URL.
       await expect(
         setup({
           globals: ['TextEncoder', 'TextDecoder', 'URL'],
           allowedGlobalNames: ['TextEncoder', 'TextDecoder'],
         }),
-      ).rejects.toThrow('unknown global "URL"');
+      ).rejects.toMatchObject({
+        message: expect.stringMatching(/^Failed to launch vat \S+ \(main\)$/u),
+        cause: { message: expect.stringContaining('unknown global "URL"') },
+      });
     });
 
     it('initializes when all vat globals are within allowedGlobalNames', async () => {
@@ -245,7 +248,12 @@ describe('global endowments', () => {
           globals: ['TextEncoder'],
           allowedGlobalNames: [],
         }),
-      ).rejects.toThrow('unknown global "TextEncoder"');
+      ).rejects.toMatchObject({
+        message: expect.stringMatching(/^Failed to launch vat \S+ \(main\)$/u),
+        cause: {
+          message: expect.stringContaining('unknown global "TextEncoder"'),
+        },
+      });
     });
 
     it('rejects unknown names in allowedGlobalNames at the RPC boundary', async () => {
@@ -263,7 +271,10 @@ describe('global endowments', () => {
             'NotARealGlobal' as AllowedGlobalName,
           ],
         }),
-      ).rejects.toThrow(/Invalid params/u);
+      ).rejects.toMatchObject({
+        message: expect.stringMatching(/^Failed to launch vat \S+ \(main\)$/u),
+        cause: { message: expect.stringMatching(/Invalid params/u) },
+      });
     });
   });
 });
diff --git a/packages/ocap-kernel/CHANGELOG.md b/packages/ocap-kernel/CHANGELOG.md
index 6b7583524..de6c99c0e 100644
--- a/packages/ocap-kernel/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/packages/ocap-kernel/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ### Changed
 
+- Attribute a failed subcluster vat launch to the specific vat by kernel id and `ClusterConfig` name (e.g. `Failed to launch vat v3 (bob)`), preserving the original error as the `cause` ([#975](https://github.com/MetaMask/ocap-kernel/pull/975))
 - **BREAKING:** Remove `VatConfig.platformConfig.fetch` — migrate to `globals: ['fetch', ...]` + `network.allowedHosts` ([#942](https://github.com/MetaMask/ocap-kernel/pull/942))
 - **BREAKING:** `MakeAllowedGlobals` now takes a `{ logger }` options bag ([#942](https://github.com/MetaMask/ocap-kernel/pull/942))
 - **BREAKING:** Type `VatConfig.globals` and `Kernel.make`'s `allowedGlobalNames` as `AllowedGlobalName[]` (a literal union) instead of `string[]`; unknown names are now rejected at the `initVat` RPC boundary ([#941](https://github.com/MetaMask/ocap-kernel/pull/941))
diff --git a/packages/ocap-kernel/src/vats/SubclusterManager.test.ts b/packages/ocap-kernel/src/vats/SubclusterManager.test.ts
index 165da7fb3..43c15657c 100644
--- a/packages/ocap-kernel/src/vats/SubclusterManager.test.ts
+++ b/packages/ocap-kernel/src/vats/SubclusterManager.test.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import type { Mocked } from 'vitest';
 import { describe, it, expect, vi, beforeEach } from 'vitest';
 
 import type { KernelQueue } from '../KernelQueue.ts';
+import { kser } from '../liveslots/kernel-marshal.ts';
 import type { KernelStore } from '../store/index.ts';
 import type {
   VatId,
@@ -431,6 +432,40 @@ describe('SubclusterManager', () => {
         bootstrapResult,
       });
     });
+
+    describe('bootstrap failure propagation', () => {
+      it('rejects with the underlying error when the bootstrap message rejects', async () => {
+        const config = createMockClusterConfig();
+        (mockQueueMessage as ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>).mockRejectedValue(
+          new Error('vat failed to build root object'),
+        );
+
+        await expect(
+          subclusterManager.launchSubcluster(config),
+        ).rejects.toThrow('vat failed to build root object');
+
+        // Not the old cryptic run-queue message.
+        await expect(
+          subclusterManager.launchSubcluster(config),
+        ).rejects.not.toThrow('no record matching key');
+
+        // The subcluster is rolled back rather than left half-initialized.
+        expect(mockKernelStore.deleteSubcluster).toHaveBeenCalledWith('s1');
+      });
+
+      it('rethrows when the bootstrap message resolves to a serialized error', async () => {
+        const config = createMockClusterConfig();
+        (mockQueueMessage as ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>).mockResolvedValue(
+          kser(new Error('bootstrap threw')),
+        );
+
+        await expect(
+          subclusterManager.launchSubcluster(config),
+        ).rejects.toThrow('bootstrap threw');
+
+        expect(mockKernelStore.deleteSubcluster).toHaveBeenCalledWith('s1');
+      });
+    });
   });
 
   describe('terminateSubcluster', () => {
diff --git a/packages/ocap-kernel/src/vats/VatManager.test.ts b/packages/ocap-kernel/src/vats/VatManager.test.ts
index eb4318af8..d5e92b1aa 100644
--- a/packages/ocap-kernel/src/vats/VatManager.test.ts
+++ b/packages/ocap-kernel/src/vats/VatManager.test.ts
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ describe('VatManager', () => {
   describe('launchVat', () => {
     it('launches a new vat without subcluster', async () => {
       const config = createMockVatConfig();
-      const kref = await vatManager.launchVat(config);
+      const kref = await vatManager.launchVat(config, 'test');
 
       expect(mockKernelStore.getNextVatId).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
       expect(mockPlatformServices.launch).toHaveBeenCalledWith('v1', config);
@@ -171,6 +171,34 @@ describe('VatManager', () => {
       );
       expect(kref).toBe('ko1');
     });
+
+    it('attributes a launch failure to the vat by id and config name', async () => {
+      const config = createMockVatConfig();
+      const cause = new Error(
+        'Failed to initialize vat v1: buildRootObject threw',
+      );
+      makeVatHandleMock.mockRejectedValueOnce(cause);
+
+      await expect(vatManager.launchVat(config, 'bob', 's1')).rejects.toThrow(
+        'Failed to launch vat v1 (bob)',
+      );
+
+      // Downstream setup is skipped once the launch fails.
+      expect(mockKernelStore.initEndpoint).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+      expect(mockKernelStore.setVatConfig).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    });
+
+    it('preserves the original error as the cause of a launch failure', async () => {
+      const config = createMockVatConfig();
+      const cause = new Error('buildRootObject threw');
+      makeVatHandleMock.mockRejectedValueOnce(cause);
+
+      const error = await vatManager
+        .launchVat(config, 'bob', 's1')
+        .catch((reason: unknown) => reason);
+
+      expect((error as Error).cause).toBe(cause);
+    });
   });
 
   describe('runVat', () => {
diff --git a/packages/ocap-kernel/src/vats/VatManager.ts b/packages/ocap-kernel/src/vats/VatManager.ts
index 700176f72..b90f6f30c 100644
--- a/packages/ocap-kernel/src/vats/VatManager.ts
+++ b/packages/ocap-kernel/src/vats/VatManager.ts
@@ -115,7 +115,14 @@ export class VatManager {
     if (subclusterId) {
       this.#kernelStore.addSubclusterVat(subclusterId, vatName, vatId);
     }
-    await this.runVat(vatId, vatConfig);
+    try {
+      await this.runVat(vatId, vatConfig);
+    } catch (error) {
+      // Attribute the failure to the specific vat by kernel id and name.
+      throw new Error(`Failed to launch vat ${vatId} (${vatName})`, {
+        cause: error,
+      });
+    }
     this.#kernelStore.initEndpoint(vatId);
     const rootRef = this.#kernelStore.exportFromEndpoint(
       vatId,