SpaceX Pulls Off Three Launches in 13 Hours as Starship's Orbital Debut Comes With an Engine Glitch

SpaceX flew three missions in 13 hours, capped by a Falcon Heavy NROL-97 launch, while a Starship engine shutdown clouded NASA's lunar timeline.

SpaceX crammed three orbital missions into a 13-hour window, capping the run with a Falcon Heavy flight for the U.S. government — a logistical feat that briefly overshadowed a technical stumble on the company's next-generation vehicle earlier in the week.

The stock traded at EUR 133.04 today, up 1.0%, as investors focused on the launch cadence rather than the Starship anomaly.

Falcon Heavy Flies First NRO Mission Under New Contract

The heavy-lift rocket lifted off at 23:53 local time from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying the NROL-97 mission. It marked the first time the National Reconnaissance Office, the U.S. government's spy satellite agency, has used a Falcon Heavy after 22 prior missions on the smaller Falcon 9. The flight was also the agency's first under the Phase 3 Lane 2 contract program.

Both side boosters returned to their coastal landing zones in Florida as planned, while the newly built center core was expended to reach the required high-energy orbit. Details of the payload and its target orbit remain classified.

A Day Bookended by Rideshare and Crew Flights

The Falcon Heavy launch closed out a tightly choreographed sequence. Hours earlier, SpaceX had sent the Transporter-18 rideshare mission aloft from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, carrying 130 small satellites — among them a test rig for an orbital project by Google. The day had opened with the Crew-13 capsule departing for the International Space Station.

According to the specialist outlet Spaceflight Now, it was only the second time the company has attempted three launches in such a compressed timeframe. The smooth coordination across multiple spaceports underscores the industrial lead SpaceX has built in the launch market.

The same week brought a milestone for Starship, which reached Earth orbit for the first time on its 14th test flight. During that mission, the vehicle deployed 26 Starlink satellites. The achievement was tempered, however, by the shutdown of one engine, which forced SpaceX to end the flight early.

Engine Cutoff Clouds NASA's Lunar Timeline

Engine problems carry more weight on uncrewed test flights than a simple damage tally suggests. Each unplanned shutdown yields valuable telemetry, but it also raises questions about the reliability of the propulsion units. Reuters reported that the Starship engine failure could complicate NASA's schedule for crewed lunar missions, which depend directly on SpaceX's Human Landing System. Delays in developing the vehicle therefore ripple straight into the U.S. agency's moon program, where the interplay between experimental development cycles and regulatory requirements demands flawless hardware before astronauts climb aboard.

Commercial operations continue in parallel: the core orbital payload business remains active while the next launch vehicle generation works through its teething problems. The stock sits 32% below its 52-week high, a valuation gap that reflects how technical setbacks can weigh on the timely delivery of partner programs.

Musk Touts Nvidia Partnership as CLSA Stays Bullish

Beyond launch operations, management is pushing into data-center projects. CEO Elon Musk said on X that he is confident about the partnership with chipmaker Nvidia, aiming to run VR72 systems at an average of just under 250 kilowatts — an outcome he attributed to joint engineering work.

Institutional support remains intact. CLSA today reiterated its buy rating with an "Outperform" classification and a price target of USD 250, citing the space and technology group's leading position in several strategic key markets.