NEW YORK, July 23, 2026 – U.S. cash markets have closed for the day, but extended trading remains active until 8 p.m. EDT. The focus now shifts to SpaceX's (NASDAQ:SPCX) rescheduled Starship Flight 13, which has been moved to Friday due to adverse weather conditions. The 90-minute launch window opens at 6:45 p.m. EDT, with the earliest expected completion of a full flight near 7:50 p.m., just before after-hours trading ends.
This postponement places a critical engineering milestone after Wall Street's closing bell, following the company's recent IPO. The shift has heightened anticipation among investors, particularly given the significant short interest in the stock. On Tuesday, approximately 360 million shares, representing 56% of the free float, were out on loan. Such heavy short interest could amplify the stock's price movement once full liquidity returns on Monday.
Market Implications of Short Interest
The substantial short position means that each $1 change in SpaceX's share price adjusts the value of the outstanding borrowed position by roughly $360 million, assuming all loaned shares have been sold short. Based on Thursday's closing price of $118.24, the total value of loans as of Tuesday equated to approximately $42.6 billion. If the stock were to rise to its IPO price of $135, covering those short positions would amount to about $6.0 billion, though these figures are illustrative and exclude fees, hedging, and covering costs.
Short sellers remain entrenched. According to Ortex co-founder Peter Hillerberg, 'There is no sign of short sellers taking profits. If anything they are leaning in harder.' This suggests a high-stakes standoff, with the upcoming launch serving as a potential catalyst.
Flight 13 Objectives and Risks
Flight 13 involves more than just a launch. The booster must detach, return, and execute a landing burn at sea. The ship itself needs to release 20 V3 satellites and then splash down approximately 65 minutes after liftoff. All 20 satellites are expected to disintegrate on reentry, as the mission's primary metric is deployment throughput rather than payload longevity. Each routine Starship launch is anticipated to boost Starlink capacity by 60 terabits per second, over 20 times the capacity of a single Falcon 9 Starlink flight.
Flight 12 highlighted the importance of booster performance. While the ship released 22 payloads and survived reentry, five of the booster's engines failed to reignite, causing a hard landing in the Gulf. The FAA concluded its review after SpaceX outlined four corrective actions. Flight 13 introduces a network hardware assessment, with satellites set to deploy arrays and attempt laser communications with the network. Six of the satellites carry cameras focused on the ship's heat shield.
A pad abort last week occurred just moments before launch, causing shares to drop roughly 3% in after-hours trading. Thursday's closing price of $118.24 was 9.8% below the July 16 finish. The stock ended Thursday up 2.6%, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 2.15%, but SpaceX continues to trade under its $135 IPO price.
Looking Ahead: Monday and Beyond
Monday marks the first full trading session following the planned flight. The primary event for the upcoming week is the market's initial reaction to the launch outcome. Further ahead, SpaceX is scheduled to release its first quarterly earnings on August 4, while a lock-up tranche of 911.5 million shares becomes available on August 6. The closest reference points indicate the leverage involved: from Thursday's close, a drop to Wednesday's all-time low of $115.26 would represent a 2.5% decline, implying an indicative short-side profit of $1.1 billion. Conversely, a rise to the IPO opening value of $135 would mean a 14.2% gain from Thursday's close, resulting in an approximate $6.0 billion loss for short sellers.
Risks include further weather-related postponements or partial mission completion, which could send unclear signals to investors. Significant leverage carries the potential to amplify both profits and losses. Key indicators for the market will be successful booster burns, V3 deployment, and the ship's survival, as each directly ties to launch frequency and Starlink capacity.
