Space stocks spent June in a "blow‑off then hangover" pattern, with many high‑flyers giving back big chunks of their 2026 gains just as SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX) stole the spotlight with its blockbuster IPO.
- RKLB stock is moving. See the chart and price action here.
June Price Damage: Who Fell How Far
Based on late‑June trading ranges and 1‑month performance data from Benzinga Pro, many liquid space names have seen double‑digit pullbacks since the calendar flipped to June.
Below is an approximate June drawdown snapshot for key space stocks and proxies, using month‑to‑date ranges on June 25, 2026:
| Ticker | Company | Approx. June move | Context |
| RKLB | Rocket Lab Corp. (NASDAQ:RKLB) | down 40% MTD from early‑June highs | After a huge YTD run, RKLB has dropped 37% over the last month as momentum reversed into the SpaceX IPO window. |
| ASTS | AST SpaceMobile Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) | down roughly 38% in June | Sold off repeatedly on SpaceX‑IPO headlines and coverage‑timeline worries, with sharp overnight drops of 10%+ on some sessions. |
| PL | Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) | 40% June decline | Fell about 9% on the SpaceX IPO day alone as investors rotated into SPCX. |
| VOYG | Voyager Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:VOYG) | down roughly 35% this month | Steady decline following SpaceX IPO |
| LUNR | Intuitive Machines Inc. (NASDAQ:LUNR) | 51% June drawdown | Name swung from 52‑week highs in late May to a roughly 13% one‑day hit on the SpaceX IPO session. |
| RDW | Redwire Corp. (NYSE:RDW) | down roughly 39% MTD, with several 3–5% down days | Came off 52‑week highs and then slid further as enthusiasm for the "mini‑SpaceX" trade faded. |
| FLY | Firefly Aerospace Inc. (NYSE:FLY) | down 50% in June | Dropped to start the month and the stock has lagged since. |
| SPCE | Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. (NYSE:SPCE) | down 18% in June, including a roughly 32% hit on IPO day | Long‑time retail darling saw one of the steepest single‑day drops in the group post‑SpaceX IPO. |
| SATL | Satellogic Inc. (NASDAQ:SATL) | 56% June decline despite strong 1‑year gains | Still up over 100% on the year but under pressure with the group. |
| BKSY | BlackSky Technology Inc. (NYSE:BKSY) | roughly 50% June pullback | Gave back part of its big move as speculative flows reversed. |
| SPCX | Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX, SpaceX)) | volatile but net positive since June 12 IPO | Closed its debut session up 19% vs. IPO price, even as peers slid hard the same day. |
| UFO | Procure Space ETF (NASDAQ:UFO) | down roughly 26% over the past month | Captures the broader space‑stock "June gloom" in one wrapper. |
These moves come after a powerful run‑up: many of the same names were up several hundred percent from 2024 lows, and the Procure Space ETF had gained more than 30% year‑to‑date by early April before reversing.
Why the Space Sector is in a Slump
The immediate catalyst is the so‑called SpaceX Effect. SpaceX priced its IPO at $135 per share and finished its first day up 19%.
That strength coincided with steep, synchronized sell‑offs in Planet Labs, Rocket Lab, Intuitive Machines, AST SpaceMobile and Virgin Galactic as investors freed up capital to chase the newly listed giant.
Macro has amplified the pain. Space names are highly sensitive to rising Treasury yields and hawkish Federal Reserve rhetoric, which both pressure long‑duration cash‑flow stories and compress valuation multiples.
As broader tech leadership narrows around AI infrastructure winners like semiconductor giants, more speculative niches such as commercial space have become a funding source, not a destination, during risk‑off days.
Valuation is the third headwind. Dashboards tracking the sector show ratios at nosebleed levels for several names: AST SpaceMobile screens above 130 times forward sales, Rocket Lab trades around 60 times, and even mid‑tier players like Satellogic and Planet Labs command 20 to 22 times.
After a year of enormous price appreciation, skepticism has grown over whether such high multiples are sustainable given that most of the companies remain years away from consistent profitability.
In other words, June’s gloom is not the start of a space story; it is the hangover after a speculative party that ran hard into the SpaceX IPO.
Photo: TIMS13 / Shutterstock
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