A general view of the SpaceX building and the Starship rocket before SpaceX’s initial public offering (IPO), at Starbase, Texas, US, on June 11, 2026.
Gabriel V. Cardenas Reuters
SpaceX postponed the launch of its Starship mega rocket on Thursday, with CEO Elon Musk promising to make another attempt “hopefully in a few days.”
The 90-minute launch window opened at 6:45 pm ET, and within minutes, the maker of the reusable rocket announced on a live broadcast that it was on hold for the day.
“Some engines didn’t start, which caused automatic emissions,” Musk wrote in a post on X.
Shares of SpaceX fell more than 3% in extended trading, sinking below its IPO price of $135. The stock is on a five-day losing streak.
The rocket was ready to lift off from SpaceX’s Starbase complex in South Texas when the booster seized, “which shut down the engines as they started to fire,” a SpaceX employee said on live radio.
It would have been the first test flight of the Starship V3, an upgraded version of its nearly 400-foot-tall rocket, since SpaceX’s initial public offering last month.
The previous V3 test launch in May did not go well.
After a successful liftoff, several engines in the rocket’s lower stage failed to steer it into a soft landing, causing it to crash 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 error report cites two possible root causes for the loss of the Super Heavy booster as the effects of heat on parts of the propulsion system during ascent and faulty alarm system settings,” the FAA said in a statement.
SpaceX has identified four corrective measures, including vehicle hardware and software updates, “to prevent a recurrence of the event,” the agency said.
As part of Thursday’s mission, Starship planned to transport 20 next-generation Starlink satellites, which were expected to expand their solar arrays and antennas, and then attempt to communicate with the wider Starlink constellation, SpaceX said. The satellites are expected to “die on re-entry approximately 20 minutes after launch,” the company noted.
Investors are keeping a close eye on the 13th Starship test flight as the giant rocket is key to SpaceX’s ambitions to scale the Starlink satellite internet service, and to complete NASA’s Artemis test flights as it aims to land the US space agency next month.
Since going public last month, SpaceX shares have soared, then fallen, and dipped briefly below their IPO price of $135 on Wednesday. The stock continued its slide on Thursday, sliding more than 3% to close at $131.11.
Through the IPO, SpaceX raised a total of $85.7 billion, including the underwriters’ option, making it the largest IPO in history.
— CNBC’s Lora Kolodny contributed reporting to this article.
