The Tema Space Innovators ETF (NYSE:NASA) has emerged as one of Wall Street’s hottest ways to position for the highly anticipated IPO of SpaceX, crossing $1 billion in assets under management just 37 trading days after launch as investors rush for exposure to the booming commercial space economy.
Launched with only $1 million in seed capital, the actively managed ETF has rapidly grown into the largest space-focused ETF in the U.S. in just weeks, fueled by surging interest in private-market access to Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite company ahead of what many expect could become one of the largest IPOs in history.
In an exclusive interview with Benzinga, Tema founder and CEO Maurits Pot said the commercial space industry is “still in the early innings.”
“The space economy is nuanced, but the thesis for NASA is straightforward,” Pot told Benzinga. “Forecasts suggest the space economy is on track to nearly triple by 2035, yet no ETF had been built to capture the theme while including the industry’s dominant company, SpaceX.”
No SpaceX, No Liftoff
Pot made an interesting comparison to put the importance of SpaceX exposure to perspective.
“We felt a space ETF without SpaceX was like a semiconductor ETF without Nvidia,” he said, making us think how pointless is chip industry exposure by removing Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) from a portfolio.
Investor demand for SpaceX exposure has become a key driver of the fund’s meteoric rise. However, Pot said the broader transformation taking place within the space economy is equally important.
“SpaceX is a genuinely singular company, and there’s no question that access to SpaceX has been a factor in NASA’s early success,” Pot said.
SpaceX Is Driving Flows — But NASA Is Betting On A Bigger Theme
NASA has distinguished itself from older aerospace-themed ETFs by focusing directly on the commercial space economy instead of legacy defense-heavy portfolios. Alongside indirect SpaceX exposure through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) structure, the fund invests across satellite infrastructure, launch systems, communications networks, imaging technologies and critical supply chains.
NASA competes with other and older space-themed ETFs like the Procure Space ETF (NASDAQ:UFO). However, UFO offers indirect exposure through investments in companies that are tied to the SpaceX ecosystem, whereas NASA takes the SPV route to investing in SpaceX.
“NASA has raised more AUM in 7 weeks than UFO did in 7 years, showing better product,” said Pot.
Still, he argued that rapidly falling launch costs, expanding satellite infrastructure and rising private-sector participation are fundamentally reshaping the economics of space investing.
“The cost of launching objects into orbit has fallen roughly 95%, thanks largely to SpaceX’s innovations,” Pot said. “Historically, the space economy has been constrained as much by finances as by physics, and those constraints are now much less restrictive. We’re still in the early innings,” he added, justifying the forecast of the space economy to nearly triple by 2035.
According to Pot, NASA’s strongest differentiator may ultimately lie beyond SpaceX itself. The ETF also targets underfollowed companies powering the next generation of space infrastructure. “We also hold a number of less heralded, but no less critical, companies in areas like the space supply chain that you won’t find represented in other ETFs.”
Among the names Pot highlighted were Rocket Lab, which he called “probably the most credible rival to SpaceX in launch services,” and AST SpaceMobile, whose direct-to-device broadband technology has drawn increasing investor interest.
“Five Pillars” Of Space Economy
The ETF’s explosive growth also reflects a broader shift in investor sentiment around frontier technologies and actively managed thematic ETFs.
Unlike many earlier thematic products criticized for chasing speculative narratives, Tema argues that commercial space infrastructure is evolving into a durable long-term investment category supported by real economic demand.
“We see five distinctly investable pillars within the space economy. There is obviously SpaceX, but beyond that the industry is evolving into a multi-layered ecosystem driven by advances in launch capabilities, satellite manufacturing, connectivity, intelligence, and critical supply chains,” Pot said. “It’s far more than just the rockets that tend to capture headlines.”
Pot also drew comparisons between the current satellite deployment boom and the broadband infrastructure expansion that powered the early internet era.
As reduced launch costs led to satellites becoming dramatically cheaper to build, Pot says that the economy has “moved from launching a small number of extremely expensive satellites to deploying massive constellations.”
“That shift will enable global connectivity, security, and imaging capabilities that would have been difficult to imagine before the infrastructure existed.”
With NASA already becoming the largest space-focused ETF in the U.S., Tema now believes the fund could evolve into a benchmark vehicle for investors seeking exposure to the commercial space economy as SpaceX’s long-awaited IPO approaches.
Image: Shutterstock
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