FAA Clears Starship for Crucible Flight with Live Starlink V3 as SpaceX Stock Hugs 52-Week Low

SpaceX shares slide to €119.60, just above a fresh low, as investors await crucial Starship flight carrying first live Starlink V3 payload.

SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 notched a milestone that seemed unthinkable a decade ago – the 600th reuse of a booster stage – but the company’s shares show none of that confidence. Trading at €119.60 on Wednesday, the stock sits just 0.49% above a fresh 52-week low of €119.02 set the previous day, as investors prepare for what could be the most consequential Starship flight yet.

The 13th test of the giant rocket is scheduled for Thursday, July 16, with a 90-minute launch window opening at 6:45 p.m. Eastern Time from SpaceX’s Starbase in Texas. This time the stakes are higher: for the first time, Starship will carry a live payload of 20 Starlink V3 satellites, a new generation designed to link via high-power lasers. Earlier tests used simulators or modified satellites. The flight also includes another attempt at recovering the Super Heavy booster after a controlled landing in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Federal Aviation Administration gave the green light on Monday, closing its investigation into the May 22 mishap. That flight saw the booster fail to execute a “soft” water landing after a 90-degree alignment error during stage separation, compounded by five of 33 engines failing to relight for the braking burn. SpaceX traced the causes to heat damage on propulsion components during ascent and incorrectly set engine alarms, then implemented hardware and software fixes. The FAA accepted those corrections.

Success on Thursday would validate the strategic logic behind Starship’s development. The V3 satellites are larger and heavier than prior generations, exceeding the capacity of the Falcon 9 in both mass and volume. A fully reusable Starship could slash launch costs by up to 95% compared with Falcon 9, turning the experimental vehicle into a true workhorse for mass satellite deployment – essential not only for Starlink’s expansion but also for national security and commercial payloads.

The Falcon 9, meanwhile, continues to demonstrate its reliability in the background. On July 13 and 14, SpaceX launched two missions from opposite U.S. coasts just eight hours apart, both carrying Starlink satellites and both landing their first stages. The second launch marked the 600th flight of a previously used booster. The Starlink constellation now numbers 12,552 satellites launched, with 10,839 currently operational.

Those operational feats have done little to lift the stock. Since its record-setting IPO on June 12 at $135 per share, the equity has been highly volatile. It joined the Nasdaq 100 on July 7, triggering passive inflows as index funds adjusted portfolios, yet the shares have since slumped. Over the past 30 days the stock has lost nearly 28%; in the last week it is down 7.8%. From its all-time high of €194.46 set on June 16, it has shed 38.5%. The annualized 30-day volatility stands at roughly 96%, and the 14-day RSI of 40.2 suggests the stock is approaching oversold territory but has not yet reached it. One portfolio manager noted that with a tiny free float, even modest trades amplify moves in both directions.

Thursday’s flight is a binary event for a stock that has little room for error. A flawless deployment of the Starlink V3 payload would bolster the investment case for Starship as an operational platform and could help stabilize the share price above the support levels seen since the IPO. A second consecutive booster loss or an anomaly with the payload would land a heavy blow, striking a stock already trading near its floor. The technical fixes will face their first live test – and with it, investor confidence hangs in the balance.