Thursday evening at Starbase, South Texas, the launch window opened. Telemetry lit up. Then four of 33 Raptor engines refused to ignite, and Starship’s automatic abort system did exactly what it was designed to do: kept the rocket on the pad. This was the 13th integrated Starship flight attempt — and the first since SpaceX‘s record-shattering June IPO. Every investor watching knew the stakes. The rocket stayed grounded. The stock didn’t.
When the Rocket Stays Grounded, the Stock Doesn’t
The abort triggered an immediate sell-off, pushing SpaceX shares deeper into a losing streak that has now erased all post-IPO gains.
SpaceX shares dropped roughly 3.6% in after-hours trading to $126.45, according to Investing.com, extending a five-session losing streak. The stock now sits about $9 below its $135 IPO price. That stings if you rode the initial 40% rally across the first two trading sessions, only to watch a 16% single-day crash and steady selling pressure since.
Elon Musk posted on X: “Some of the engines didn’t start, triggering an automatic launch abort… Next launch attempt hopefully in a few days.” SpaceX plans to swap two Raptor engines before retrying early next week.
The surrounding context makes the timing worse:
- At least 4 of 33 Raptor engines failed to complete normal ignition, triggering the automatic abort
- A May test ended with the Super Heavy booster splashing down uncontrolled in the Gulf of Mexico after five engines shut down prematurely
- The FAA identified heat effects on propulsion components and erroneous engine alarm settings as root causes from that May incident, then cleared SpaceX to resume flights earlier this week
- SpaceX reported a $4.9 billion net loss in 2025 and an additional $4.28 billion loss in Q1 2026
- The company raised $25 billion in bonds last month to fund ongoing development
An $85.7 Billion Bet That Still Needs to Fly
Raised at a record $85.7 billion valuation, the IPO handed SpaceX a public audience that grades on a very different curve than engineers do.
The company’s “test, fail, iterate” philosophy eventually produced the reusable Falcon 9. Public markets, however, have the patience of a TikTok scroll. Either the company delivers or the algorithm moves on.
Bulls argue the abort proves safety systems worked. No fireball, no lost hardware, quick turnaround. Bears see a pattern: explosions, uncontrolled boosters, ignition failures, and over $9 billion in combined recent losses stacked on $25 billion in fresh debt. Neither read is obviously wrong — which is precisely why the volatility feels like a GameStop chart with actual rockets attached.
A successful retry next week could reverse the slide. Another anomaly deepens it. Starship remains either the most ambitious program in commercial spaceflight history or the most expensive proof that going public too early is its own kind of misfire.
