SpaceX (SPCX) stock fell 1.73% in pre-market trading Thursday after the company postponed Starship Flight 13 for a second time, now targeting Friday, July 24.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., SPCX
The delay was caused by weather tied to Tropical Storm Bertha over South Texas. SpaceX said cloud cover would prevent ground cameras from capturing clear imagery of Starship’s heat shield during ascent — a key objective for this flight.
The company confirmed the delay on X, stating the launch window would shift to Friday, with the same 90-minute window opening at 5:45 p.m. CT.
Now targeting Friday, July 24 for Starship’s thirteenth flight test, due to weather.
A key objective for the flight test is to get clear imagery from the ground of Starship’s heatshield as it flies at a higher dynamic pressure during ascent, which won't be possible with today's… pic.twitter.com/O4qyJaXjVs
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 23, 2026
This marks the second setback for Flight 13 in two weeks. The first attempt on July 16 ended in an automated abort at T-0 when four of Super Heavy Booster 20’s 33 Raptor engines failed to ignite.
SpaceX spent the following week destacking the vehicle, swapping out two Raptor engines, running leak checks, and restacking on Pad 2 — before weather stepped in to delay things again.
Unlike the engine issue, Thursday’s delay is entirely a visibility problem. SpaceX wants footage of Starship’s heat shield as it flies through max dynamic pressure, and the storm’s cloud cover made that impossible.
Flight 13 carries 20 production Starlink V3 satellites — the first time SpaceX has flown operational satellites rather than mass simulators on Starship. That alone makes this a milestone flight regardless of when it launches.
Six of those satellites are fitted with cameras to inspect the heat shield from orbit, giving engineers a second data source alongside the ground imagery that weather is currently blocking.
Flight 13 is the second outing for the V3 versions of both Starship and Super Heavy, following their debut on Flight 12 in May.
Booster 20 will attempt a boostback burn and splashdown in the Gulf of America, while Ship 40 follows a suborbital path toward a landing in the Indian Ocean.
The booster will run a more aggressive ascent burn after max Q compared to Flight 12. The ship’s heat shield also includes load-sensing tiles designed to measure stress at higher dynamic pressure.
SPCX carries a Strong Buy consensus on TipRanks, based on 23 Buy ratings, five Holds, and one Sell since its IPO.
The average price target sits at $243.81, implying an upside of 106.2% from current levels.
If Friday’s attempt goes well, Flight 13 could be the final suborbital test in the Starship program, with SpaceX already eyeing an orbital flight for Flight 14.
The 20 Starlink V3 satellites on board would mark the first operational payload ever carried by Starship.
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