SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) shares are down 3% to $109.96, extending a slide that now totals 30% since the June 12 IPO.
The broader space sector is selling off sharply in Tuesday’s session, with peers falling even harder despite fresh positive catalysts at the company level.
Rocket Lab (NASDAQ: RKLB) stock has dropped 9% to $60.63, reversing the prior session’s gains entirely, while AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ: ASTS) is down 7% to $54.09.
The Procure Space ETF (NASDAQ: UFO) is off 2% to $43.03, confirming that the weakness is theme-wide rather than isolated to any single name.
Six members of Congress disclosed SpaceX purchases in the same session, with five Republicans and one Democrat, including Reps. Lisa McClain, John James, Daniel Meuser, William Timmons, John McGuire, and Gilbert Cisneros.
Those combined purchases totaled between $182,000 and $480,000, though the positions are already underwater as SPCX has traded below its $135 IPO price for eight straight sessions.
A partial congressional stock-trading ban passed the House last week but is not expected to clear the Senate, meaning these disclosures remain legally permissible for now.
Sentiment on SpaceX stock has soured on valuation concerns and a reported first lockup expiration around August 6, which could unlock insider selling and add meaningful supply to the market.
Options positioning reflects that caution, with the full-chain put/call ratio sitting at 1.07 and the September 18 expiration carrying a ratio of 5.52, indicating heavily skewed bearish bets.
Prediction markets are also leaning bearish, with Polymarket assigning a 56% probability of a lower close and only a 54% probability of SPCX holding above $110 into month-end.
Rocket Lab announced its largest contract ever on Monday, a $266 million U.S. Space Force award covering 12 suborbital launches with an option for six more, tied to missile defense and a new Kodiak, Alaska launchpad.
CEO Peter Beck stated that the company has been “selected to support the Department of War’s Space Based Interceptor program under Golden Dome for America in partnership with Raytheon.”
Raytheon is a unit of RTX (NYSE: RTX), which is holding up comparatively well, trading up 20.5% year to date in contrast to the pure-play space names.
Rocket Lab’s Q1 FY2026 revenue hit a record $200.3 million, up 63.5% year over year, supported by a $2.2 billion backlog that gives the company considerable forward visibility.
Citizens reiterated a Market Outperform rating with a $130 price target on RKLB stock, though the market is ignoring that endorsement entirely in today’s broad selloff.
Rocket Lab’s pending $8 billion all-stock acquisition of Iridium Communications (NASDAQ: IRDM) adds IoT, direct-to-device, and L-band spectrum capabilities, with the deal expected to close mid-2027.
AST SpaceMobile plans to launch BlueBird satellites 11, 12, and 13 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 on August 5 from Cape Canaveral, following June’s successful BlueBird 8-10 launch.
The new satellites offer nearly double the peak download speeds of their predecessors, positioning AST SpaceMobile for beta services later this year despite today’s share price decline.
The next major catalyst is calendar-driven, as the reported SpaceX lockup date around August 6 could trigger additional supply pressure if insiders move to sell their positions.
Investors are watching whether space names find support later in the session, and whether Congress members’ SpaceX purchases ultimately prove prescient or premature given the persistent post-IPO slide.
