SpaceX Stock Gets a Lift as Washington Moves to Cut Red Tape -- Barrons.com

By Al Root

SpaceX wants to go faster than current regulations allow, so regulations will have to change.

SpaceX stock was down 0.1% at $116.29 in premarket trading, while SP 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 0.3% and down 0.1%, respectively.

The early move came after shares rose 2.6% on Tuesday, seemingly boosted by a couple of dollars in midday trading by the Federal Aviation Administration's announcement of plans to streamline the space launch approval process.

A proposed rule would waive some "unnecessary" environmental laws and regulations that slow down launch cadence. "America won the first Space Race, and we can do it again, but only if we get government red tape out of the way," said Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy in a news release.

To be sure, environmental regulations and oversight are good things. Space launch regulations, however, need to adapt to the coming reality. Long gone are the days when America would send a few rockets into space each year.

The FAA authorized a record 204 commercial space operations in 2025. Most of those were for SpaceX, which accounts for roughly half of global orbital launch activity. SpaceX, however, plans to launch thousands of times per year. The launch review and approval process will eventually need to be overhauled to allow for that rapid cadence.

Regulation renewal will be good for other players beyond SpaceX. It's just the largest players. Rocket Lab and Firefly Aerospace shares didn't get a Tuesday boost, though. Rocket Lab stock dropped 4.6%. Firefly shares fell 2.8%.

Maybe that means the SpaceX jump wasn't mainly related to FAA news. It could have been, essentially, random. SpaceX stock has been weak for weeks, falling 44% from its all-time closing high of more than $200 a share heading into yesterday's trading.

Maybe SpaceX stock was simply due for a bounce.

Still, the FAA news is a positive. SpaceX investors could use some of those right now.

Next up for SpaceX is the company's inaugural earnings report, slated for Aug. 4. At that point, 20% of the shares held by early investors will become available to trade.

Trading lockups for early investors are typical in IPOs, but they create an overhang for shares. Why buy a stock when there is a large wave of selling expected that can drive down prices?

After the earnings report, 7% of the stock comes off lockup at 70 days, 90 days, 105 days, and 135 days after the IPO. That takes investors into mid-October. Another 28% of the stock comes off lockup after the second-quarter report. The final amount is unlocked after 180 days. That point is in early December.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

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July 29, 2026 06:38 ET (10:38 GMT)