NEW YORK, July 13, 2026, 16:28 (EDT)
SpaceX NASDAQ:SPCX dropped 4.4% to end Monday at $139.19. Rocket Lab USA NASDAQ:RKLB ended down 5.3% at $76.75. AST SpaceMobile NASDAQ:ASTS slipped 7.7% to $67.64 and Intuitive Machines NASDAQ:LUNR closed off 6.3% at $15.13. The QQQ fund was off 1.9%, and SPY finished down 0.8%.
An equal-weighted basket dropped 5.9%, so every stock’s impact was the same no matter the size. The basket lagged QQQ by 4.0 percentage points and SPY by 5.1. The numbers don’t point to one reason, but they do show investors sold the group harder than big technology stocks.
| Security | Closing price | One-day move | Link to reusable-launch competition |
|---|---|---|---|
| SpaceX | $139.19 | -4.4% | Direct competition: launch and satellite |
| Rocket Lab | $76.75 | -5.3% | Direct competition: launch and space hardware |
| AST SpaceMobile | $67.64 | -7.7% | Indirect: uses satellite network and buys launches |
| Intuitive Machines | $15.13 | -6.3% | Indirect: sells lunar and space missions |
| QQQ | $711.77 | -1.9% | Large tech sector ETF |
| SPY | $749.10 | -0.8% | Main U.S. stock benchmark ETF |
The four companies lost about $88.6 billion in market cap, going by the closing prices and flat share counts. Roughly $84.2 billion of that came from SpaceX. The other three combined lost $4.39 billion. SpaceX finished with a market valuation of $1.833 trillion, just below Broadcom NASDAQ:AVGO, landing at number seven on the U.S. list. Shares closed only 3.1% over the $135 IPO price.
The drop in the three smaller companies wiped out market value equal to 10.9 times their total latest quarterly sales of $401.7 million. Rocket Lab posted Q1 revenue of $200.3 million, AST SpaceMobile had $14.7 million, and Intuitive Machines booked $186.7 million. The figure just compares the market cap hit to recent revenue. It doesn’t say anything about actual cash lost by the companies.
| Company | Estimated market value erased | Latest Q1 revenue | Erased value/revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rocket Lab | $2.58 billion | $200.3 million | 12.9 times |
| AST SpaceMobile | $1.65 billion | $14.7 million | 112.3 times |
| Intuitive Machines | $149 million | $186.7 million | 0.8 times |
| Combined | $4.39 billion | $401.7 million | 10.9 times |
Estimates are based on closing prices and daily percent moves. Share counts are assumed flat.
AST SpaceMobile dropped 7.7%, the biggest fall in the group, though the company is focused on building a direct-to-phone satellite network and buying launches. Intuitive Machines offers lunar and orbital services. For SpaceX and Rocket Lab, the threat from a reusable Chinese rocket hits closer to home. The broad selling on Monday points to investors reducing “space beta” exposure across different business models.
China’s Long March 10B rocket on Friday put a satellite in orbit and landed its booster in a net on an offshore platform, the first time the country has pulled off an orbital-class booster recovery. That means the recovered first stage was strong enough to help send a payload into orbit. “Net-based recovery helps simplify the rocket’s onboard structure, reduces vehicle mass and increases payload capacity,” Chen Muye of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology told Xinhua. State broadcaster CCTV said China wants to reuse the booster by the end of the year. Reuters
Morgan Stanley NYSE:MS said Monday China’s reusable-rocket push is the main long-term challenger to SpaceX. The bank said China still hasn’t proven it can repeat launches or refly a recovered booster, so it doesn’t have a working reusable system yet. Morgan Stanley kept its overweight rating and $300 price target, saying it expects the stock to outperform peers.
Monday’s drop can’t be pinned squarely on the Chinese test. Crude oil jumped 9.4% after U.S.-Iran tensions, the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.56%, and inflation worries picked up with costlier energy. “When you move something this far, this fast, you invite the question: how sustainable is it?” said Thomas Martin, senior portfolio manager at GLOBALT. If China fails to relaunch the booster, some risk could come out of U.S. space stocks. But if China pulls off a string of cheap reflights, that could push down launch prices and weigh on the values of SpaceX and Rocket Lab’s coming Neutron rocket. Reuters
SpaceX expects another data point no earlier than Thursday, July 16, when Starship Flight 13 is set for launch. The upcoming mission will test changes after Flight 12 and carry 20 Starlink V3 satellites. If the launch goes off without issues, investors could refocus on reusability for SpaceX. Another failed attempt would keep investor worries on rising competition and execution risk.
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