SpaceX Shares Fall 2% After Starship Booster Misses Planned Return

SpaceX shares fell 2.05% in after-hours trading Friday after the booster from Starship’s 15th test flight failed to return to the South Texas launch site as planned.

Shares had closed down 0.59% earlier Friday. Starship lifted off from the company’s South Texas launch base at about 5:48 p.m. ET (4:48 p.m. CT) Nov. 13. Its first and second stages separated after liftoff. The Super Heavy booster did not complete the planned return to the launch site and instead made a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.

The flight was planned as the first attempt to return both the booster and Starship spacecraft to the launch site. SpaceX’s recovery plan called for the launch tower’s mechanical arms to catch the two vehicles as they returned. The booster’s Gulf landing meant the planned tower catch did not take place for that vehicle.