How to tap into SpaceX IPO without investing directly
As SpaceX’s long-awaited IPO approaches, several adjacent stocks and sectors could benefit from its halo effect.
Dan McEvoy
As Elon Musk’s SpaceX gets ready to list on the Nasdaq, investors are poised for what is expected to be the biggest initial public offering (IPO) ever.
SpaceX has targeted an IPO price of $135 per share to raise around $75 billion, with a target valuation of roughly $1.75 trillion. Shares will start trading on 12 June.
High-profile events like an IPO can serve as a ‘rising tide’ for a sector and others that are closely related; adjacent companies that might have otherwise been overlooked can benefit from a halo effect. This might include satellite technology, launch services and defence infrastructure stocks.
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“A SpaceX listing could do exactly that for space,” said Darius McDermott, managing director at Chelsea Financial Services.
It’s important to remember that an IPO isn’t always a ‘one and done’ event. While there’s often (but not always) a ‘pop’ the day after a company floats, the period immediately after a listing can be volatile – and SpaceX is expected to bring more share price movement than usual, and for longer. So while these ideas present opportunities that may benefit by proxy to the main headline act, investors across the broader sector could be in for an equally bumpy ride.
Investors flocked towards space stocks and funds in the run-up to SpaceX’s initial public offering (IPO), according to data released by investing platform AJ Bell.
Analysis of the platform’s most popular stocks and funds in the three months leading up to the IPO show that investors have been eager to invest in the space economy, with funds and investment trusts like Scottish Mortgage (LON:SMT) and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) like VanEck Space Innovators ETF (LON:JEDG) rocketing in popularity.
“Investors keen to join the race to space haven’t sat on their hands waiting for the SpaceX IPO,” said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell. “Space-related investments feature heavily in the most popular purchases on the AJ Bell DIY investor platform over the past three months, as excitement builds ahead of SpaceX’s stock market debut on Friday 12 June.”
How SpaceX’s IPO could lift the space sector
AJ Bell’s analysis ranked the most popular stocks and funds that tie into the space theme ahead of SpaceX’s IPO, based on net buys on its DIY investor platform.
STOCK/FUND/TRUST | RELEVANCE TO SPACE | 1 YEAR RETURN | 3 MONTH RETURN |
|---|---|---|---|
Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust | Owns stake in SpaceX | 44% | 24% |
BAE Systems | Developing Azalea satellite system | 1% | -12% |
Seraphim Space Investment Trust | Has portfolio of space companies | 160% | 42% |
VanEck Space Innovators ETF | Has portfolio of space companies | 167% | 35% |
AST SpaceMobile | Satellite designer and manufacturer | 195% | 3% |
Rocket Lab | Launch services and satellite tech | 293% | 62% |
RIT Capital Partners | Owns stake in SpaceX | 19% | 6% |
Filtronic | Radio frequency tech provider for SpaceX | 188% | 104% |
Schiehallion Fund | Owns stake in SpaceX | 101% | 20% |
Redwire | Builds spacecraft | 1% | 118% |
Chemring | Space component supplier | -12% | -4% |
Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust | Owns stake in SpaceX | 41% | 25% |
Planet Labs | Satellite imagery | 461% | 30% |
Qinetiq | Space-related testing and training | -14% | -5% |
Airbus | Largest space company in Europe | 7% | 1% |
Source: AJ Bell. Based on highest number of net buys 8 March to 8 June 2026 on AJ Bell DIY platform.
It is noteworthy that many of these investments have had greater demand than otherwise staple investments.
“More people bought shares in Scottish Mortgage, Seraphim or the VanEck Space ETF during the past three months than blue chip stocks Shell, BP, AstraZeneca and National Grid, all of which regularly feature in the most popular names with UK investors,” said Coatsworth.
“That’s remarkable as these names are stalwarts of ISAs and pensions across the country, with investors often buying shares in them every month for their attractive dividends and long history of generating solid earnings.”
Not all the investments gained in value in the months running up to SpaceX’s IPO: aerospace contractor BAE Systems (LON:BA.) fell 12% over the past three months.
Some, however, have soared. SpaceX supplier Filtronic (LON:FTC) and spacecraft builder Redwire (NYSE:RDW) both more than doubled in value in the three months leading up to SpaceX’s IPO.
How can you access other upcoming IPOs?
Anthropic and OpenAI, both private AI developers, have announced plans to IPO since the start of June, and should these be a success then it could usher in a new wave of tech IPOs.
“SpaceX may be the IPO of the moment but there are plenty of other exciting private companies in the pipeline for a potential public offering,” said Chelsea Financial’s McDermott.
“Without specialist knowledge, it can be hard to know which ones to back, but investment trusts offer retail investors a ready-made route to some of the best pre-IPO opportunities”.
For a ‘pure-play’ private company focus, Chelsea favours Baillie Gifford’s Schiehallion (LON:MNTN).
“It holds eight of the 10 largest private companies in the world, with the majority of its portfolio in unlisted names, including Bending Spoons, ByteDance, Databricks, Revolut, Stripe and Anthropic.
“These managers have deep private equity networks and the expertise to value private businesses that most ordinary investors simply cannot replicate, and by getting in before a listing, investors can capture far more of the growth,” he said.
Chelsea’s Managed Funds range also holds Chrysalis (LON: CHRY) and Seraphim Space (LON: SSIC), which offers exposure to the space sector specifically with both ordinary and C-shares available.
Should you buy private or public shares?
Once a company lists, its shares become available on the secondary (or open market) and are far easier to buy.
Many of these companies are remaining private for longer (before moving into public ownership when they IPO), generating huge amounts of revenue while doing so, meaning once they list they’ve already enjoyed rapid growth.
For investors keen on space investing broadly but put off by the perceived risk or administrative burden that can be associated with an IPO, it might be worth looking for similar companies already listed; sometimes the more attractive entry points may not be the headline names but companies further along the supply chain.
McDermott said Schroder US Mid Cap Fund is one such option for indirect, diversified exposure.
“[Its] holdings include Hexcel (NYSE:HXL), which makes composite materials used in spacecraft for clients such as SpaceX, Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin; MACOM Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:MTSI), whose semiconductors are critical to satellite communications; and BWX Technologies (NYSE:BWXT), which provides nuclear propulsion and power components for NASA space programmes,” he said.
Investing in a specialist fund
You might prefer to invest in the theme with a more targeted approach. ETFs are common routes to investing in a specific theme, such as the space economy. Some broad portfolios available to UK investors include the ARK Private Innovation ELTIF (only available via a financial adviser), VanEck Space Innovators UCITS ETF, or a new vehicle from WisdomTree, whose Space Economy UCITS ETF (LON:WSPG) launched on the London Stock Exchange on 5 June.
Pierre Debru, head of research, Europe at WisdomTree, said while the SpaceX IPO could be a “defining milestone” in driving the sector’s broader appeal, the fundamentals behind the investment case look robust and durable.
As the sector matures, he believes launch systems will become more efficient, easier to access and cheaper, expanding the opportunity set across the value chain.
Earth observation and geospatial intelligence are increasingly feeding into the real economy, supporting industries from agriculture to critical infrastructure.
“Emerging applications, including in-orbit manufacturing, servicing and space-based data infrastructure, are also opening new markets and reinforcing the long-term growth potential of the theme,” added Debru.
If actively managed funds are your preference, one dedicated option is Neuberger Berman’s Next Generation Space Economy Fund. When the fund launched four years ago, the group said the space economy was so much “more than rockets and satellites”, influencing sectors as diverse as banking and precision agriculture to air traffic control and ride sharing.
