Themes · general research

Space

Launch, satellites, Earth observation, lunar landers, space infrastructure.

Can lose most

Can lose most of the money. Typical volatility 107 %, typical worst fall −86 %; 6 of 6 companies are more than half below their high.

The most volatile theme (typical volatility above 100 %). Revenue is real and growing at Rocket Lab, Intuitive Machines, Redwire and Planet, but all of them lose money.

Typical volatilityMedian 1-year volatility of the theme's companies (annualised daily moves).
107 %
Typical worst fallMedian of each company's worst peak-to-trough fall in five years (or since listing).
−86 %
Typical distance from the high
−70 %
Typical 1-year return
−10 %

How to hold it in the EU

US-listed ETFs have no KID and cannot be bought by EU retail investors; these UCITS lines can. One fund line spreads the single-company risk.

VanEck Space Innovators UCITS ETF
ISIN IE000YU9K6K2TER 0,55 %Assets 1 422 M € Volatility 1y 46 %Worst fall 1y −46 %Since 2022-06-24
LineWhere
JEDI Xetra · EURFreedom24IBKR
JEDI London Stock Exchange · USDFreedom24?IBKR

Green: available; dashed with “?”: the venue is offered, check the line in the terminal; crossed out: not available.

US theme ETFs (UFO) are used only to measure the theme's risk: not buyable by EU retail.

The companies

Research data of 2026-10-15; where we score the company, its live Smart Score and red flags are shown.

Volatility: 1 year; worst fall and best/worst: 5 years or since listing; “12 m” = the share of rolling 12-month windows that at least doubled / at least halved.
TickerMarket capRevenue (y/y)P/SVolatility 1yWorst fallFrom high1 year12 m: ×2 / −50 %WhereOur rating
RKLB
Rocket Lab: launch and spacecraft
35,4 B$769 M$ (+52 %)46×92 %−78 %−61 %−10 %44 % / 10 %Freedom24IBKR1/10Caution. Negative free cash flow in at least two of the last three years. More in the glossary →Caution. Share count growing 3–10 % a year over three years. More in the glossary →+1
ASTS
AST SpaceMobile: satellite-to-phone
16,4 B$115 M$ (+2 257 %)142×108 %−86 %−68 %−53 %47 % / 12 %Freedom24IBKRCaution. Negative free cash flow in at least two of the last three years. More in the glossary →Note. Dividend or fundamental sources disagree beyond tolerance. More in the glossary →
PL
Planet Labs: Earth-observation data
5,1 B$378 M$ (+44 %)14×92 %−86 %−73 %−7 %35 % / 17 %Freedom24IBKR1/10Caution. Negative free cash flow in at least two of the last three years. More in the glossary →Caution. Share count growing 3–10 % a year over three years. More in the glossary →+1
LUNR
Intuitive Machines: lunar landers and services
2,5 B$490 M$ (+117 %)5×111 %−97 %−87 %−10 %26 % / 19 %Freedom24IBKR1/10Serious warning. Altman Z in the distress zone and negative free cash flow. More in the glossary →Caution. Negative free cash flow in at least two of the last three years. More in the glossary →+2
RDW
Redwire: space infrastructure
2,1 B$426 M$ (+63 %)5×112 %−87 %−67 %−5 %26 % / 15 %Freedom24IBKR1/10Serious warning. Share count growing more than 10 % a year over three years. More in the glossary →Caution. Negative free cash flow in at least two of the last three years. More in the glossary →
FLY
Firefly Aerospace: launch and landers; IPO August 2025
2,9 B$287 M$ (+179 %)10×106 %−72 %−72 %−43 %0 % / 40 %Freedom24IBKR1/10Caution. Negative free cash flow in at least two of the last three years. More in the glossary →Caution. Net debt above 4× EBITDA or interest cover below 2×. More in the glossary →

Survivorship: the list is of companies known in 2026; earlier names that went bankrupt or were taken private are missing, so the “×2” share is an upper bound.

The theme as a basket

Equal weights, monthly rebalance, 08.08.2022–14.10.2026, compared with the S&P 500.

Equal-weight basketCAGRVolatility 1yWorst fall1 year
RKLB ASTS PL LUNR RDW+86 %82 %−73 %−5 %
S&P 500 (SPY)+15 %16 %−19 %+13 %

The window starts near the 2022 low, which flatters every basket. Past results do not predict future ones.

Base rates: how such bets usually end

Research results to keep in mind before any upside.

IPOs, 3 years38,5 % of IPOs lost more than half in 3 years; 16,1 % doubled, 0,5 % grew 11× or more.

Jay Ritter, IPO statistics, Table 16e (9,195 IPOs 1975–2021), 23.03.2026

SPAC mergers−51 % average 1-year return after a SPAC merger (2012–2024).

Ritter / Gahng–Ritter–Zhang, Table 15c (625 de-SPACs 2012–2024), 05.10.2026

Thematic ETFs−30 % risk-adjusted over the first 5 years of specialised (thematic) ETFs.

Ben-David, Franzoni, Kim & Moussawi, RFS 36(3), 2023

Lottery stocks> 1 % a month: how much “lottery” stocks (the biggest one-day jumps) underperform.

Bali, Cakici & Whitelaw, JFE 99(2), 2011

Where the gains come from4 % of US stocks created all the net wealth since 1926.

Bessembinder, JFE 129(3), 2018

Volatility drag≈ 46 % a year is lost to volatility at 96 % volatility: +40 % a year on average compounds to about −6 %.

standard approximation: geometric mean ≈ arithmetic mean − σ²/2 (our arithmetic)

Source: Nasdaq historical closes 15.10.2021–14.10.2026; stockanalysis.com fundamentals 15.10.2026; justETF profiles and quotes 15.10.2026 · Research data of 2026-10-15 · Methodology and sources