SpaceX stock in focus after China rocket milestone, share unlock ahead

SpaceX stock in focus after China rocket milestone, share unlock ahead Pras Subramanian · Senior Reporter Wed, August 19, 2026 at 9:45 AM EDT 2 min read SPCX SpaceX ( SPCX ) shares are in focus on Wednesday after a Chinese company landed a rocket booster for the first time, just as a new share unlock adds to the pressure. The stock slipped further in overnight trade but recovered slightly in early trade. This comes after SpaceX's $135 IPO price was recovered on Aug. 10, the first close above the offering price since mid-July. Potentially weighing on shares is news that Chinese startup LandSpace on Tuesday landed the first stage of its Zhuque-3 rocket on a pad at the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Pilot Zone in Northwest China, the first time a Chinese company has recovered an orbital-class booster on land. In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, a screenshot from video shows the first stage of the Zhuque-3 Y2 rocket successfully making its land-based recovery on Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026. (LandSpace/Xinhua via AP) · Landscape/Xinhua via AP The rocket's upper stage delivered satellites to orbit on the vehicle's second-ever flight. Its December 2025 debut reached orbit but lost the booster to what LandSpace described as abnormal combustion during descent. The milestone narrows the competitive gap that set SpaceX apart from every other launch provider on Earth, including US rivals like Rocket Lab. The Chinese Zhuque-3 is a 216-foot-tall rocket that can lift 40,350 pou…