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Space’s appeal to prospective investors is obvious. The scope and potential of what Star Trek romantically dubbed the ‘final frontier’ can feel endless.
NASA’s Artemis II mission which successfully sent four astronauts around the Moon has rekindled excitement and enthusiasm about heading to the stars – with Artemis III planning to land astronauts on the lunar surface in 2028.
Space industry dominated by satellites
And after a few failures to launch, the whole space investment theme looks set to get a lift-off moment in 2026 as SpaceX joins the stock market.
But Elon Musk’s rocket company is not the only space-related investment in town. There are some names on the UK stock market which have exposure to this burgeoning trend too.
While over time the space sector could encompass grand visions of colonising Mars and even moving beyond our solar system, for now a lot of the focus is on so-called low earth orbit or LEO satellites.
As their name suggests these are closer to Earth than conventional satellites and help enable things like high-speed and secure broadband and imaging.
Bank of America sums up the current thinking on the potential size and scope of this market.
In research published in late 2025 it observed: “Estimates of LEO market size range from $100 billion to $300 billion-plus and we estimate a total addressable market of $200 billion. Use cases range from earthquake monitoring to 3D imaging and data storage. For our purposes we focus on the wireless, broadband, and defence markets, which we estimate at $80 billion.
“The industry is at a early stage with development, launch, operational and customer acquisition hurdles and the standard deviation of outcomes is enormous. But it is clear, in our view, that the market supports more than one viable LEO service provider.”
Why SpaceX is in the lead
SpaceX’ Starlink business is by a distance the global leader in LEOs. Bloomberg Intelligence’s George Ferguson told AJ Bell’s Money & Markets podcast in April 2026 that: ‘Right now, SpaceX is I think a little bit shy of about 10,000 satellites in low Earth orbit, and Amazon Leo, which would be the competing product, they have something like 180 or something less than 200.’
Amazon Leo operates as a subsidiary of cloud computing and e-commerce giant Amazon and it is just one of several major technology firms participating in the corporate space race. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos is also behind space tech venture Blue Origin. Google’s Project Suncatcher is another example: this aims to advance the development of a cluster of solar-powered satellites designed to host AI processors, with initial trial launches scheduled for early 2027.
On April 27, 2026, Meta entered into a significant agreement with Overview Energy to secure one gigawatt of space-based solar power.
This system will collect energy in orbit and transmit it to Earth through infrared beams, supporting Meta’s terrestrial AI operations by 2030.
SpaceX’s longer-term plans are even grander in scale with data centres in space and putting people on other planets part of Musk’s vision.
The other key area is space travel and exploration – centred around what is sometimes described as the lift or launch market. Again, as Bloomberg’s George Ferguson explains, SpaceX has a considerable headstart. “Last year SpaceX did something like 139,140 shots into orbit. And again, competitors are well beneath 100.”
SpaceX has a rare listed competitor in this area in Rocket Lab. Founded by Peter Beck in New Zealand nearly 20 years ago the company is now headquartered in California and listed on Nasdaq. Its Electron orbital rocket launches small satellites into space.
It joined the stock market in 2020 but has really taken off in the last 18 months over which the shares have advanced 624%. It is expected to remain loss making in 2026 before breaking into very modest profitability in 2027. While full financials for SpaceX itself are not yet available Bloomberg’s Ferguson observes that it is very likely loss-making at group level.
As well as specialists, there are businesses from adjacent industries which have exposure to space. BAE Systems’ $5.6 billion acquisition of Ball Aerospace in 2025 was predicated on boosting its footprint in satellites, sensors and spacecraft.
Other big aerospace and defence businesses like Airbus, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, and smaller UK names like Melrose Industries, have some involvement in space. There is established and significant crossover between defence and space which can be traced back at least as far President Reagan’s proposed ‘Star Wars’ space-based missile shield in the 1980s.
These offer a potential alternative way to play the space theme and, when compared to specialist operators, have more mature and reliable revenue streams from their existing operations.
Space tourism
Richard Branson founded Virgin Galactic has sought to tap into the space tourism theme with at best mixed success. It has never turned a profit and the shares trade close to record lows. The company is in a period of transition having retired its first-generation spacecraft VSS Unity in June 2024 and is developing its next-generation Delta class fleet. Ticket sales for flights starting in the fourth quarter of 2026 have commenced. A seat will set you back the small matter of $750,000.
Suppliers to the space race
Then there are the companies serving various elements of the space supply chain. One example is Filtronic – quoted on the UK’s AIM market. This County Durham business was founded in 1977 and makes specialised hardware that allows high-speed data to travel through the air using radio waves. SpaceX is one of its customers and excitement about its role supporting Musk’s space venture has helped catapult the company from a market value of £25 million three years ago to £552 million today. Revenue increased from £16.3 million in the May 2023 financial year to £56.3 million in the 12 months to 31 May 2025.
Investment bank Berenberg says: “Filtronic continues to be one of the best-positioned pure-play space names in the UK market, in our view. Recent months have seen a significant uptick in sector newsflow, driven by increasingly frequent satellite launches and greater investor interest in the network services that will evolve to support this growth. The period has also seen developments for Filtronic, including new customer contracts and product launches, which we believe increase its potential growth.”
Based on Berenberg’s forecasts the shares trade on a price to earnings ratio for the May 2027 financial year of 56.3 times.
What about space-related funds?
The fluctuating fortunes of space as an investment theme can be neatly traced through the performance of dedicated UK-listed investment trust Seraphim Space. The vehicle generated significant excitement at IPO in 2021 but subsequently stalled until late 2023. The shares have really rocketed in the last 18 months – with the trust going from trading on a significant discount to net asset value to a chunky premium.
Seraphim offers exposure to a diversified list of space names – many of which also have accompanying defence and security expertise.
Of its key holdings – HawkEye 360 which specialises in radio frequency signal geolocation – or in other words figuring out where something is by using the radio signals it emits – recently announced plans for an IPO. The expected $2.36 billion valuation could deliver a £11.1 million uplift to the value of Seraphim’s portfolio.
Seraphim avoids SpaceX competitors to focus on data and applications. It recently raised £137 million to enable it to capitalise on a pipeline of new opportunities.
Ongoing charges on the trust, in part reflecting its specialist nature and focus on private companies, are 1.77%.
Lower cost exposure to space-related investments is available through exchange-traded fund VanEck Space Innovators. Like Seraphim this is a concentrated fund with its top 10 holdings accounting for 60.6% of the portfolio.
Investors looking at space for the undoubted exciting potential should remember this is still a very nascent industry with lots of uncertainty over winners and losers.
What you need to know about the SpaceX IPO
SpaceX may soon launch the biggest IPO in history with a listing expected as soon as June of this year. The firm’s ambition is to lower the cost of space operations and generate revenue through recurring services like Starlink, its satellite network. SpaceX’s business spans launch services, satellite internet, and AI, with ambitions to make space travel routine and operate orbital data centres powered by solar energy.
Growth opportunities include the Starship launch system – designed for large-scale cargo and crew missions to the Moon and Mars – and defense contracts such as the Golden Dome missile program. SpaceX faces competition from Blue Origin, Amazon, ArianeGroup, and Rocket Lab, each focusing on rockets or satellite connectivity.
Speculation surrounds SpaceX’s $75 billion fundraising goal and potential $1.75 trillion valuation and its financials remain unclear. Risks include technical failures, regulatory changes, competition, reputation challenges, and the complexity of operating in space.
SpaceX’s ambitious plans require significant capital, which could lead to further shareholder dilution. A $1.75 trillion valuation would put SpaceX on 83 times sales – several multiples of Nvidia’s rating based on its past financial year and latest share price.
Details on whether ordinary investors can participate in the Space X IPO were still unclear at time of writing [may need update here]. However, there are a handful of investment trusts on the UK stock market which already have material exposure to SpaceX. The company accounts for 19.3% and 20.4% respectively of the Scottish Mortgage and Edinburgh Worldwide portfolios.
Baillie Gifford US Growth and The Schiehallion Fund in turn have positions of 14.9% and 12.8% (as a proportion of their portfolio). These figures are all as of the end of March 2026.
Anyone investing in these trusts to gain access to SpaceX must consider performance will also be driven by the other holdings in their portfolio.
Tom Sieber: Content Editor
Tom Sieber is AJ Bell's Content Editor. He was previously the Editor of Shares Magazine. He has been with the business since 2012.
Tom is a regular contributor to the AJ Bell Money & Markets...
