Beirut: SpaceX shares fell about 20% below their initial public offering price Tuesday, extending a steep decline that has erased more than $1.2 trillion from the company's market value since its June peak. Shares of Elon Musk's rocket, satellite, and artificial intelligence company dropped 5.5% to $107.30 as of 10 am EDT (1400GMT).

According to Anadolu Agency, the stock was trading 47% below its June 16 closing high that was reached shortly after the company's record-setting market debut. The decline came as investors pulled away from riskier technology companies amid geopolitical uncertainty and concerns that heavy spending on artificial intelligence has inflated demand and valuations across the sector.

SpaceX shareholders are also preparing for potential selling pressure from its staggered lock-up arrangement. As many as 911.5 million shares are expected to become available for trading Aug. 6. The number of freely tradable shares could rise to 5.33 billion by the end of the year, compared with 639 million currently, according to the company's IPO prospectus.

About 30% of the shares currently available for trading have been sold short, data compiled by S3 Partners showed. Short sellers have accumulated nearly $8 billion in unrealized profits from the decline. The selloff continued despite SpaceX carrying out a largely successful Starship test flight Friday, during which the rocket deployed upgraded Starlink satellites and returned to Earth largely intact.

Starship is central to the company's plans to expand the Starlink communications network, conduct missions to the moon, and eventually place data centers in space. The rocket's development, however, has been marked by explosions, technical failures, and delays.