SpaceX shares fell 3.32% on Wednesday, July 29, closing at $112.55. The drop came even as the company landed a fresh $1.6 billion order from the US Space Force covering 18 Falcon 9 launches through 2027.
The slide is part of a broader unraveling since SpaceX’s Nasdaq debut. The stock priced its IPO at $135, then surged to an all-time high of $225.64 in mid-June before reversing hard.
A Contract That Couldn’t Halt the Slide
Wednesday’s drop extends a rough stretch for SpaceX stock. Shares hit a record low of $107.01 on Tuesday and still trade below the company’s $135 IPO price. The stock has fallen roughly 29% over the past month. Investors are now bracing for a share unlock around August 6 that could add fresh supply to the market.
Rivals face setbacks of their own. ULA is still working through a months-long technical review of a booster separation issue on its Vulcan rocket. Blue Origin is still investigating a launchpad explosion that grounded its New Glenn rocket in May.
Those problems leave SpaceX with an even wider lead in Pentagon launch work. Some lawmakers still question the military’s reliance on a single contractor.
Inside Space Force’s Latest Order
Space Force split the missions across two task orders under its National Security Space Launch Phase 3 Lane 1 program. SpaceX competes there with United Launch Alliance, Blue Origin, and other US launch firms for military work. The rockets will carry satellites that detect and track airborne threats. That work falls under the Pentagon’s Space Based Sensing and Targeting effort.
The order builds on May’s Space Force win, when SpaceX picked up $6.5 billion for military satellite work. Reuters reports the company has now landed at least $7 billion in Pentagon deals this year. Much of that spending ties back to the Trump administration’s roughly $185 billion Golden Dome missile defense program.
The new contract adds fresh revenue. It may not steady the stock, though, ahead of the August share unlock and SpaceX’s August 4 earnings report. Investor sentiment, not Pentagon spending, may decide that outcome.
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