An overall view of the SpaceX building and Starship rocket ahead of SpaceX’s initial public offering (IPO) at Starbase, Texas, USA on June 11, 2026.
Gabriel V. Cardenas | Reuters
space x The company canceled the launch of its massive Starship rocket on Thursday, with CEO Elon Musk promising to try again “hopefully within the next few days.”
The 90-minute launch window began at 6:45 p.m. ET, and within minutes the reusable rocket maker announced on a livestream that it was canceled for the day.
“Some of the engines failed to start, causing an automatic launch abort,” Musk wrote in a post on X, before adding in another post: “To ensure good flight, we will remove and replace the two Raptors. Most likely launch date is early next week.”
SpaceX stock fell more than 3% in extended trading, falling further below its IPO price of $135. Stock prices have been declining for five consecutive days.
The rocket was preparing to take off from SpaceX’s Starbase complex in south Texas when the booster hold activated and “the engines shut down as soon as ignition began,” a SpaceX employee said on a livestream.
This was supposed to be the first test flight of Starship V3, an upgraded version of the nearly 400-foot-tall rocket, since last month’s blockbuster initial public offering.
The start of V3 testing in May was not fully completed.
After a successful liftoff, several engines in the rocket’s lower stage failed to reignite and guide it to a soft landing, and the rocket plummeted into the Gulf of Mexico.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered SpaceX to investigate the anomaly, and on Monday the agency cleared Starship to fly again.
“The final accident report identifies two of the most likely root causes for the loss of the super heavy booster: thermal effects on propulsion system components during ascent and misconfiguration of the engine warning system,” the FAA said in a statement.
SpaceX has identified four corrective actions, including updates to the vehicle’s hardware and software, to “prevent a recurrence of the accident,” the agency said.
As part of Thursday’s mission, Starship planned to transport 20 functional next-generation Starlink satellites that are expected to expand their solar arrays and antennas and attempt to connect with the broader Starlink constellation, SpaceX said. The company said the satellite is expected to “disappear upon re-entry approximately 20 minutes after deployment.”
Investors are keeping an eye on the 13th Starship test flight, as the giant rocket is key to SpaceX’s ambitions to expand its Starlink satellite internet service and complete the Artemis test flight with NASA, which aims to be the US space agency’s next moon landing.
Since hitting the public market last month, SpaceX stock has soared and then fallen, briefly falling below its initial public offering price of $135 on Wednesday. The stock continued to fall on Thursday, dropping more than 3% to close at $131.11.
In this IPO, SpaceX raised a total of $85.7 billion, including underwriter options, making it the largest IPO in history.
—CNBC’s Lora Kolodny contributed reporting to this article.
