Space X cancels Starship’s 13 th test flight, stock price dives over 3% after hours
On July 16, local time, the 13th test flight of the "Starship" planned by the American space exploration technology company SpaceX was urgently suspended at the last moment of the ignition stage, and the launch mission was cancelled. This is the first planned starship launch since SpaceX landed on Nasdaq in June this year. News that it was suspended before the launch further aggravated the market's concerns about the company.
On July 16, local time, the 13th test flight of the "Starship" planned by the American space exploration technology company SpaceX was urgently suspended at the last moment of the ignition stage, and the launch mission was cancelled. This is the first planned starship launch since SpaceX landed on Nasdaq in June this year. News that it was suspended before the launch further aggravated the market's concerns about the company. Affected by this, SpaceX's stock price continued to dive by more than 3% in after-hours trading. During the regular trading period of the day, the stock closed down 3.08% to US$131.11, officially falling below the issue price of US$135, and the total market value fell back to US$1.73 trillion. This is the first trading day that SpaceX has closed at a break since its listing. According to information disclosed by SpaceX, the launch was originally scheduled to take place at 17:45 Central Time on the 16th (6:45 Beijing time on the 17th) at the Starship Base Orbital Launch Pad 2 in Cameron County, southern Texas. After the countdown reached zero, the 33 "Raptor" engines on the super-heavy booster started ignition in sequence. However, at the moment when the engines roared, the rocket's built-in automatic safety system triggered a launch abort command. The ignited engines immediately shut down in an emergency. The entire rocket stopped steadily on the launch pad and did not lift off. On July 16, 2026, local time, before the 13th test flight, SpaceX's next-generation starship and the new super-heavy V3 booster were stacked on the launch pad of the starship base in Boca Chica, Texas, USA. Judging from the telemetry data, at least 4 of the 33 engines failed to complete the ignition start normally. It was this abnormality that triggered the automatic abort procedure. SpaceX spokesman Dan Huot explained in a live broadcast that the booster triggered an abort command during the process of igniting the Raptor engine, and the launch was immediately halted. Musk also quickly posted on social platforms to explain the fault. He said: "Part of the engine failed to start, triggering the automatic launch abort procedure. The propellant is currently being unloaded, and the next launch attempt is expected to be carried out within a few days." Musk further revealed that in order to ensure the success of the next test flight, the team will replace the two problematic Raptor engines. The most likely time for another launch is early next week. Just less than two months ago, on May 22, Starship had just completed its 12th comprehensive flight test. This was the first overall appearance of the fully upgraded third-generation Starship V3 configuration. The test flight at that time consisted of the B19 super-heavy booster and the S39 Starship spacecraft. It lifted off from the brand-new launch pad No. 2 of the Texas Starship Base. The whole process lasted about 66 minutes. During the mission, Starship successfully deployed 22 simulated Starlink satellites. The spacecraft stage completed reentry into the atmosphere and achieved controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean. Most of the core test objectives were successfully achieved. However, the super-heavy booster failed to complete its return ignition as planned after separation, and eventually crashed into the Gulf of Mexico. Neither stage was recovered. Therefore, the market has placed higher expectations on the originally scheduled 13th test flight. This mission is not only the second flight of the V3 configuration, but also the first starship test flight mission of SpaceX after its launch. The main goal this time is to verify that the booster has completely completed takeoff, rocket body stage separation, and returned to the offshore landing site in the Gulf of Mexico. In addition, the upper stage of the starship needs to complete the deployment of 20 third-generation Starlink satellites, then control the re-entry into the atmosphere, and finally splash down in the Indian Ocean. Although this temporary suspension did not cause hardware losses, the cancellation of the test flight meant that the pace of relevant technical verification was delayed, and it also caused investors to re-examine the uncertainty of the starship project. SpaceX's stock price has been in a continuous correction channel recently, and the cancellation of this launch has further amplified the downward pressure. On June 12, SpaceX listed on Nasdaq with an issue price of US$135, raising approximately US$75 billion in basic funds, setting one of the largest IPO records in the history of the US stock market. The opening price on the first day of listing was approximately US$160.95, an increase of approximately 19.2% from the issue price. Subsequently, the stock price soared, hitting an all-time high of US$225.64 on June 16, which corresponded to a market value that once exceeded US$2.6 trillion, briefly surpassing technology giants such as Microsoft and Amazon. However, the good times did not last long. Since then, the stock price has entered a continuous correction channel, with a cumulative decline of more than 30% from the high point to the present, corresponding to the evaporation of approximately US$1 trillion in market value. (