LookAt method not working on instantiated objects.

Hello all. I am new to game development, and have been playing around with some concepts I've learned so far. I am having an issue instantiating a prefab that has a transform.Lookat() method. When I manually place one of these prefabs, it performs as intended, following my target, but when I instantiate them at runtime they don't follow the target. The rest of the script works (they also instantiate projectiles and propel them forward), just not the LoookAt() method. Do I not understand how this method works?

Here are the pertinent bits:

 void Update () {
 
         time += Time.deltaTime; 
         transform.LookAt(target.transform); 
 
         if(time > 2.0) {
 
             time = 0;
             GameObject p = (GameObject)Instantiate(projectile, transform.position, Quaternion.identity);
             p.GetComponent<Rigidbody>().AddForce(transform.forward * force); 
             Destroy(p, 3);
                 
         }
         
 }

This controls the launcher object, which creates a projectile and fires it at the target.

 void nextLevel() {
 
         
             Vector3 randV31 = new Vector3(Random.Range(-35.0f, 35.0f), 1.50f, Random.Range(-35.0f, 35.0f));
             
             Vector3 randV35 = new Vector3(Random.Range(-35.0f, 35.0f), 1.50f, Random.Range(-35.0f, 35.0f));
             transform.position = GameObject.Find("start").transform.position;
             Instantiate(scoreSphere, randV31, Quaternion.identity);
             Instantiate(launcher, randV35, Quaternion.identity);
 }

This bit of script is attached to the player and when a certain condition is met, it instantiates the launcher object, which is the prefab in question. Any help you could provide would be very appreciated.