SpaceX stock falls further after Starship test flight aborted
A SpaceX Starship spacecraft moves towards the launch pad past the Starbase Manufacturing Facility before its 10th test flight from the company’s complex in Starbase, Texas, USA, on August 23, 2025.
Steve Nesius | Reuters
SpaceX The stock fell further on Friday, a day after it canceled a test flight for its Starship rocket at the last second and amid choppy post-IPO trading.
Aviation giant was expected Launch your Starship mega rocket over a 90-minute period at 5:45 p.m. in Texas on Thursday, but an engine ignition failure forced SpaceX to delay the launch.
“Some of the engines failed to start, triggering an automatic launch abort,” billionaire founder Elon Musk said in a post on X. “I’m draining the fuel now. I expect the next launch attempt will be in a few days.”
SpaceX was last down 3.5% in pre-market trading after falling over 3% in after-hours trading.
Musk later added in a post that 2 Raptors will be removed and replaced and a relaunch is planned for early next week.
Investors are watching the company’s rocket tests more closely after it raised a record $85.7 billion in its largest-ever IPO in June and priced its shares at $135. SpaceX’s shares have both risen and fallen since its debut on the stock market.
Shares of SpaceX since it went public in June.
This was the first test flight of Starship V3 since SpaceX’s blockbuster IPO. A previous attempt in May failed after Starship sent its upper stage into the Indian Ocean. The Super Heavy booster failed to make a controlled landing in the Gulf of Mexico due to five of the 33 Raptor engines failing to restart.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration ordered an investigation into the crash and on Monday gave the company permission to continue testing.
