A SpaceX Starship spacecraft deploys through the Starbase manufacturing facility toward the launch pad before making its 10th test flight from the company’s Starbase complex in Texas, USA, August 23, 2025.
Steve Nessius | Reuters
space x Shares fell further on Friday, a day after the company canceled test flights of its Starship rocket at the last minute amid volatile post-IPO trading.
The aerospace giant was scheduled to launch its Starship giant rocket in a 90-minute window Thursday at 5:45 p.m. in Texas, but an engine failure forced SpaceX to cancel the launch.
“Part of the engine failed to start, causing an automatic launch abort,” billionaire founder Elon Musk said in a post on X. “We are currently unloading propellant. We expect the next launch to occur within the next few days.”
SpaceX fell 3.5% in premarket trading after falling more than 3% in after-hours trading.
Musk later added in a post that the two Raptors were being removed and replaced, with another launch planned for early next week.
Investors are watching the company’s rocket tests more closely after the company raised $85.7 billion in June, the largest initial public offering in history, with its stock price at $135. SpaceX’s stock price has soared and fallen since its stock market debut.
SpaceX stock price since going public in June.
This was SpaceX’s first test flight of Starship V3 since its blockbuster IPO. A previous attempt in May failed after sending Starship’s upper stage into the Indian Ocean. The Super Heavy booster failed to make a controlled landing in the Gulf of Mexico after five of its 33 Raptor engines failed to reignite.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered an investigation into the accident and on Monday cleared the company to continue testing.
