SpaceX aborts Starship test flight, sending stock lower

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk canceled the launch of his Starship mega rocket on Thursday, while promising to make another attempt “hopefully within a few days.”

A 90-minute launch window opened at 6:45 PM ET, and within minutes the reusable rocket maker announced live on air that it was on hold for that day.

“Some of the engines failed to start, triggering an automatic launch abort,” Musk wrote. a post on x.

SpaceX’s shares fell more than 3% in extended trading, falling further below its IPO price of $135. The stock is on a five-day losing streak.

The rocket was ready to take off from the SpaceX Starbase complex in South Texas when a shutdown was triggered on the booster, “turning off the engines as soon as they started firing,” a SpaceX employee said on a livestream.

This would be the first test flight of Starship V3, an upgraded version of SpaceX’s roughly 120-foot rocket, since its blockbuster initial public offering last month.

An earlier V3 test launch in May didn’t go perfectly.

After a successful liftoff, several engines on the bottom of the rocket failed to reignite to assist in a soft landing, causing the rocket to crash into the Gulf of Mexico.

The Federal Aviation Administration ordered SpaceX to investigate the anomaly, and on Monday the agency said starship to fly again.

“The final accident report cites the two most likely root causes of the loss of the Super Heavy booster as heat effects on propulsion system components during ascent and incorrect engine alarm system settings,” the FAA said in a statement. he said.

The agency said SpaceX identified four corrective actions, including vehicle hardware and software updates, “to prevent the incident from occurring again.”

As part of Thursday’s mission, Starship planned to carry 20 operational next-generation Starlink satellites that are expected to expand their solar panels and antennas and then attempt to link up with SpaceX’s larger Starlink constellation. in question. The satellites are expected to “destroy on re-entry approximately 20 minutes after dispersion,” the company said.

Investors are watching the 13th Starship test flight closely because the giant rocket is key to SpaceX’s goals of scaling its Starlink satellite internet service and completing Artemis test flights with NASA aimed at the U.S. space agency’s next moon landing.

Since hitting the public markets last month, SpaceX shares have soared, then fallen, briefly falling below their $135 IPO price on Wednesday. The stock continued to fall on Thursday, closing down more than 3% at $131.11.

With the IPO, SpaceX raised a total of $85.7 billion, including the underwriters’ option, making it the largest IPO in history.

— CNBC’s Lora Kolodny contributed to this article.