SpaceX Stock Drops as it Prepares for Starship Test Number 14

Dow Jones08-24 19:26

SpaceX stock was lower early Monday after a busy few days for Elon Musk's rocket and AI company.

Shares were at $135.28 in premarket trading, off 1.9%, while S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively.

The move comes after SpaceX completed two Starlink mission over the weekend. A Falcon 9 rocket leaving from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida launched 29 satellites into orbit on Aug. 11. Another Falcon 9 leaving from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California launched 27 Starlink satellites.

Starlink is SpaceX's space-based broadband product that ended the second quarter with about 12 million subscribers. Sales in the quarter were $4.3 billion, up from $2.6 billion a year ago. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, or Ebitda, were $2.6 billion, up from $1.6 billion in the second quarter of 2025.

SpaceX hit 100 launches in 2026 over the weekend. It took the company a few more days in 2025 to hit that milestone. SpaceX launched 170 rockets in 2025, accounting for more than half of global launches.

That number includes Starship tests. Starship is SpaceX's huge, fully reusable rocket designed to lower the costs to reach space. The larger capacity also means more capable Starlink satellites. Starship will also enable SpaceX to put AI data centers in orbit, something Musk believes will give SpaceX a cost advantage in the AI business.

SpaceX completed a static fire (the rocket didn't go anywhere) of six Raptor engines on Starship's upper stage on Aug. 21.

Static fire tests usually come before rocket launches. SpaceX will likely also test the lower booster rocket as well. That hasn't happened yet. Testing typically comes a few weeks before the launch. So SpaceX's 14th Starship test will likely be in September.

SpaceX didn't respond to a request for comment about Starship testing plans.

Test number 14 will be closely watched by investors. It will likely include Starship achieving a stable Earth orbit. SpaceX hopes to be deploying commercial payloads with the rocket by late next year.

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