First Major Test After IPO! SpaceX Plans to Attempt Another Starship Launch Early Tomorrow, Previously Postponed Due to Engine Failure

SpaceX will attempt to launch Starship again this Thursday local time, marking the company’s first restart after last week’s launch was aborted due to engine malfunction, as well as the first major technical test since its IPO. As the core platform supporting future Starlink expansion, NASA’s lunar landing program, and Mars strategy, every Starship test flight directly impacts whether SpaceX’s long-term growth trajectory can be realized.

This launch is not only the second flight of the third-generation Starship (V3), but also the first time the capital markets have tested SpaceX's R&D model after its IPO. After last week’s launch was aborted, SpaceX’s stock price fell for two consecutive days, with market cap dropping significantly from its post-listing high, indicating that investors are beginning to reassess the Starship development timeline and commercialization progress.

According to plan, this mission will continue to validate several key capabilities of the third-generation Starship, including in-orbit engine relight, Starlink satellite deployment, and spacecraft flight control tests. If these are successfully completed, it will help restore market confidence and lay a foundation for subsequent orbital flights, in-orbit refueling, and crewed missions.

Launch Postponed Due to Engine Malfunction, First Major Technical Challenge Since IPO

The launch is scheduled for 5:45 p.m. Thursday local time (early morning July 24 Beijing Time) at SpaceX’s Starbase site in southern Texas, conducting the second test flight of the third-generation Starship (V3).

The initially planned first attempt last Thursday was forced to abort at the last moment before ignition. At that time, thick smoke suddenly rose around the launch tower, but the rocket remained on the pad. Elon Musk later stated on the X platform that two Raptor engines did not successfully ignite, the system automatically triggered the abort sequence, and the company will replace the engines before organizing another launch.

While launch aborts are not uncommon in aerospace testing, the fact that it occurred after SpaceX's approximately $86 billion IPO made the market particularly sensitive. After the news was announced, the stock price fell about 3% after hours, continued to trend downward on the following trading day, cumulatively retreating from its third-day peak after listing, and losing over $100 billion in market value.

Ivan Feinseth, Chief Investment Officer at Tigress Financial Partners, noted that the postponement is a reminder to investors that Starship faces considerable execution risk in achieving high-frequency and fully reusable operations. Should testing progress continue to be delayed, future revenue release and margin improvement schedules may also be affected.

However, some industry insiders think the market response is overwrought. Caleb Henry, Research Director at consulting firm Quilty Space, pointed out that SpaceX has long adhered to a "test fast, fail fast, iterate fast" R&D model. Falcon 9 also experienced many early failures but eventually became one of the most frequently launched and reliable commercial rockets globally.

Starship Determines SpaceX’s Future Valuation Ceiling

Compared to the already mature Falcon 9 commercial launch business, Starship is the core of SpaceX’s future growth story.

Elon Musk hopes to use Starship for the next generation of Starlink satellite launches and to further expand into space data centers, deep space transportation, crewed lunar landings, Mars exploration, and other businesses. As these plans advance, Starship is seen as the key platform that determines SpaceX's long-term commercial value and profit potential.

Currently, SpaceX has invested over $15 billion in Starship R&D and holds about $4 billion in NASA contracts, with plans to execute the Artemis lunar mission as early as 2028.

However, to achieve this goal, the company still needs to overcome a series of key technologies, including in-orbit propellant refueling, performing more than ten consecutive resupply launches, and achieving crewed flight certification. So far, Starship has yet to complete a full orbital flight.

More importantly, Starship is designed as the world’s first fully reusable super-heavy-lift launch vehicle system—both the Super Heavy booster and the Starship spacecraft must safely return and be reused after each launch. If this goal is ultimately achieved, launch costs will be significantly reduced, becoming SpaceX’s core competitive advantage in maintaining its lead in commercial space, Starlink network, and deep space exploration sectors.