SpaceX’s First Post-IPO Starship Test Collides With a $1 Trillion Market Comedown

SpaceX’s First Post-IPO Starship Test Collides With a $1 Trillion Market Comedown
SpaceX is confronting a rare double test: a tumbling share price and an aborted Starship flight just weeks after its blockbuster Wall Street debut, raising questions over how much risk investors are willing to stomach in Elon Musk’s most ambitious venture yet.

From euphoric debut to $1tn sell-off

On June 12, SpaceX raised nearly $86 billion in its IPO, with shares quickly soaring above $200 and briefly giving the company a valuation rivaling tech giants such as Amazon and Microsoft. But in the weeks that followed, the stock slid almost every week, driven by a tiny 4% public float and intense speculation that produced “wild swings during the first month of trading.”

By mid-July, a sharp sell-off had “wiped $1tn from Elon Musk’s rocket group,” as the stock traded below its $135 IPO price for the first time since listing. On July 15, shares spent much of the day under that level, even dipping beneath $133 before closing at $135.27.

Hype builds for Starship Flight 13

Amid the slide, Musk tried to refocus attention on execution. On July 15 he posted that “Starship still tracking to fly tomorrow,” amplifying excitement around the thirteenth test flight — and first since the IPO. Hours before launch, he highlighted SpaceX’s behind-the-scenes documentary, telling followers “To understand more about Starship” as the company promoted a series on the “world’s most powerful and fully reusable rocket.”

Abort at zero and investor jitters

On July 16, SpaceX stacked the vehicle for Flight 13 and announced that the “Starship launch window opens at 5:45pm Texas time.” But just before 7PM ET, the countdown hit zero and the attempt “fizzled out,” with Musk explaining: “Some of the engines didn’t start, triggering an automatic launch abort. Now offloading propellant. Next launch attempt hopefully in a few days.”

For engineers, the abort fits SpaceX’s “fly, fail, fix” development model; Starship is “still very much in development, which means it is prone to failures.” For markets, the timing was harsher: the scrub came just hours after SPCX closed below $135 for the first time, deepening scrutiny of whether Musk’s “otherworldly promises” can keep justifying SpaceX’s still-lofty valuation.

Investors now face a clearer tension: each Starship test is both a technical step toward a reusable super-heavy launcher and a live referendum on how much volatility they are willing to accept in the post-IPO era.

Continue reading https://foxvector.com/stories/019f6f16-b3a2-122a-708e-1c3f5a98ee18