SpaceX shares fell below their initial public offering (IPO) price for the first time following the cancellation of the Starship rocket launch, continuing a downward trend since the company went public. The shares closed at $131.11, a 3.08% drop from the IPO price of $135.
This decline marked the fifth consecutive session of losses after SpaceX’s record-breaking $86 billion IPO on June 12. The stock faced increased selling pressure in after-hours trading, dropping to as low as $124 after the Starship rocket launch was called off at the Starbase facility in South Texas.
SpaceX had planned the Starship test flight within a 90-minute launch window starting at 6:45 p.m. ET on Thursday. However, the launch was aborted shortly after the engines ignited, leading to the company standing down for the day. CEO Elon Musk explained that the automatic abort was due to some engines failing to start.
Musk mentioned that two Raptor engines would be replaced before the next launch attempt, likely to happen early the following week. This mission was the 13th test flight of the Starship and the second test of the upgraded V3 version, a 400-foot-tall rocket. The previous V3 test flight in May faced engine reignition issues, causing the rocket to land in the Gulf of Mexico prematurely.
