SpaceX Shares Fall to IPO Price Ahead of Crucial Starship Test Launch

SpaceX shares fell back to just above their initial public offering price on Wednesday as investors prepared for the company’s next Starship test launch. The stock closed at $135.27 after trading below its $135 IPO price for much of the day, extending a decline that has followed SpaceX’s strong Nasdaq debut.

After going public on June 12, SpaceX shares climbed above $200, briefly giving the company a valuation comparable to some of the world’s largest technology firms. Since then, however, the stock has steadily retreated as investor enthusiasm eased and broader technology stocks weakened.

Part of the volatility has been driven by SpaceX’s unusually small public float, with only about 4% of its outstanding shares publicly traded. The limited supply of shares, combined with heavy investor attention, has contributed to sharp price swings during the company’s first month on the public market.

Investors are also closely watching SpaceX’s upcoming Starship test flight, scheduled for Thursday. The mission will be the first since a booster failure in May and will mark another important milestone for the company’s next-generation launch system. Following its “fly, fail, fix” development philosophy, SpaceX continues to use each test to gather data for future improvements.

The company does not plan to recover either the Super Heavy booster or the Starship upper stage during this mission. Instead, both stages will simulate landing procedures before ending their flights over the Gulf of Mexico, meaning they will be intentionally destroyed regardless of whether the planned flight objectives are met.SpaceX’s stock performance is also being watched beyond the aerospace industry because it could influence future public offerings by major artificial intelligence companies, including OpenAI and Anthropic, both of which have confidentially filed for IPOs. The company’s recent share price decline, along with weaker performance in its post-IPO bonds, reflects growing investor caution toward high-growth technology companies.

Despite the recent market pullback, SpaceX remains one of the world’s most closely watched aerospace companies. The upcoming Starship launch is expected to provide another measure of the company’s technical progress as investors continue evaluating whether it can deliver on its long-term ambitions while maintaining confidence in the public markets.