Rocket Lab, AST SpaceMobile, Virgin Galactic Shares Are Rising After Hours: What's Going On?

Space stocks are rising in Thursday’s after-hours session amid an escalation of a public dispute between SpaceX’s Elon Musk and President Donald Trump.

What Happened: Musk and Trump are throwing jabs on their respective social media platforms spurred by the former’s disapproval of a large tax bill being pushed by Trump.

In a Truth Social post Thursday afternoon, Trump said the easiest way to cut spending is to get rid of Musk’s government subsidies and contracts.

Musk quickly responded with a post on X, indicating that SpaceX would immediately start decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft, which is currently the only option the U.S. has for carrying crew members to the International Space Station.

NASA press secretary Bethany Stevens chimed in on the dispute, noting that NASA will continue to work with Trump to carry out his vision for the future of space.

“We will continue to work with our industry partners to ensure the President's objectives in space are met,” Stevens said in an X post.

Space stocks appear to be rallying in response to the news as investors are optimistic the spat could create more opportunities for other space companies.

Rocket Lab Corp RKLB, which has multiple contracts with NASA, saw its shares rise 5.22% in Thursday’s after-hours session, while AST SpaceMobile Inc ASTS shares climbed nearly 3% at last check.

AST SpaceMobile is one of Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin's top customers. The companies signed a deal in November 2024 for the launch of up to 45 satellites. A Scotiabank analyst speculated this week that the relationship between the two companies could get even stronger in the near future.

Shares of heavily-shorted Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc SPCE were also up nearly 15% in after-hours at the time of writing.

The dispute between Musk and Trump comes about two weeks after Trump announced the architecture for a $175 billion Golden Dome missile defense system. The system will feature next-generation technologies, including “space-based sensors and interceptors” and “a lot” of American companies will be involved, according to Trump.

The tax bill, referred to as Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” is expected to include $175 billion for the Golden Dome project.

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Photo: courtesy of Rocket Lab.