On July 16, local time, SpaceX’s highly anticipated 13th Starship test flight was abruptly called off at the very last second during ignition, the company confirmed. This was meant to be SpaceX’s first Starship launch since its Nasdaq debut in June, and the last-minute cancellation only added fuel to investors’ growing unease about the company.
In response, SpaceX shares took a further dive of over 3% in after-hours trading. During regular hours, the stock had already closed down 3.08% at $131.11, officially slipping below its IPO price of $135 and dragging the company’s market cap down to $1.73 trillion. This marks the first time the stock has closed below its offering price since going public.
According to SpaceX’s public update, the launch was scheduled for 5:45 PM Central Time on July 16 from Orbital Launch Pad 2 at the Starbase facility in Cameron County, southern Texas. As the countdown hit zero, the 33 Raptor engines on the Super Heavy booster began lighting up in sequence. But just as the roar kicked in, the rocket’s onboard automatic safety system triggered an abort command. The engines that had already ignited shut down immediately, and the entire vehicle—still firmly planted on the pad—never left the ground.
Telemetry data revealed that at least four of the 33 engines failed to ignite properly, and that anomaly triggered the automatic abort. SpaceX spokesperson Dan Huot explained during the livestream that the abort was initiated while the booster was lighting the Raptor engines, and the launch was immediately called off. Elon Musk jumped on social media shortly after to share what went wrong. “Some engines didn’t start, which triggered the automatic launch abort. We’re offloading propellant now and hope to try again in a few days,” he wrote. Musk added that, to ensure a smooth next attempt, the team would swap out two problematic Raptor engines, with the most likely next launch window coming early next week.
Just under two months ago, on May 22, Starship completed its 12th integrated flight test—the first full outing for the third-generation V3 configuration. That mission used the B19 Super Heavy booster and the S39 Starship upper stage, lifting off from the brand-new Orbital Launch Pad 2 at Starbase and lasting about 66 minutes. During the flight, Starship successfully deployed 22 simulated Starlink satellites, re-entered the atmosphere, and executed a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean—hitting most of its core objectives. However, the Super Heavy booster failed to complete its return burn after separation and ended up crashing into the Gulf of Mexico, meaning neither stage was recovered.
That’s why the 13th flight was seen as such a big deal by the market. Not only was it the second flight of the V3 configuration, but it was also the first Starship mission since SpaceX went public. The primary goal was to prove the booster could pull off a full launch, stage separation, and then return to a landing spot in the Gulf of Mexico. On top of that, the upper stage was supposed to deploy 20 next-generation Starlink satellites, then execute a controlled re-entry and splash down in the Indian Ocean.
While the last-second abort didn’t damage any hardware, the cancellation means the technical validation timeline has been pushed back. It’s also giving investors a reason to rethink the uncertainties surrounding the Starship program. SpaceX’s stock has been on a downward trend recently, and this launch cancellation only amplified the selling pressure.
On June 12, SpaceX debuted on the Nasdaq at $135 per share, raising about $75 billion in what became one of the biggest IPOs in U.S. history. The stock opened at roughly $160.95 on day one, jumping about 19.2% above the offering price. It then kept climbing, hitting an all-time high of $225.64 on June 16, with a market cap briefly exceeding $2.6 trillion—flirting with giants like Microsoft and Amazon. But the good times didn’t last. Since that peak, the stock has lost more than 30% of its value, wiping out roughly $1 trillion in market cap.
JPMorgan analyst Seth Seifman noted that this 13th test flight, even though it didn’t launch, will still generate a wealth of data for analysis. But looking at the big picture, he said, SpaceX’s ambitions to ramp up to dozens of Starship launches next year, hundreds by 2028, and thousands after that will inevitably come with both breakthroughs and setbacks.
