SpaceX Shares Drop After Starship Launch Abort; New Attempt Targeted for Next Week

Shares of the recently public SpaceX fell sharply after the company aborted its 13th Starship test flight just before liftoff on Thursday, wiping out approximately $100 billion in market value. The company, led by Elon Musk, announced it is targeting another launch attempt as early as next week.

Launch Abort Triggers Market Sell-Off

The automated abort command was triggered during engine ignition at its Texas launch site when four of the Super Heavy booster's 33 Raptor engines failed to ignite, according to a live depiction from the company. While launch delays are not uncommon for the ambitious rocket program, the market reaction was swift.

According to a Reuters report, SpaceX shares have dropped by roughly 6% to $124.30 since the abort. The decline accelerated a recent slide that had already pushed the stock below its $135 initial public offering price on Wednesday and further from a post-IPO high of $225.64.

SpaceX Plans Quick Turnaround

In a post on the social media platform X, CEO Elon Musk confirmed that the abort was triggered because "some of the engines didn’t start." He added that SpaceX plans to replace two of the booster's engines "to be confident of a good flight."

SpaceX's website updated its schedule, indicating a new attempt could come "as early as Monday, July 20." Company engineers noted on X that this was the first time a fully stacked Starship had ignited its engines and then performed an abort, calling it a valuable learning experience.

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Investor Reaction and Long-Term Stakes

The market's reaction provides an early glimpse into how public investors may respond to SpaceX's test-intensive development process. Chad Anderson, CEO of Space Capital and a SpaceX investor since 2017, told Reuters that the "day-to-day price action is noise" and that the long-term investment thesis remains unchanged.

Pressure is mounting for the Starship program, which has cost over $15 billion to date, to become operational. The rocket is central to the company's future growth plans, including:

• Expanding its Starlink satellite internet network to provide service directly to mobile devices.
• Launching a future constellation of potentially thousands of AI-processing satellites.

The aborted flight was intended to carry 20 Starlink satellites to test the rocket's satellite-dispensing system.