Space stock ETFs are suddenly hot. Only 1 owns SpaceX before the IPO.

Fund companies are gearing up to promote their space-themed exchange-traded funds. But only one of them actually has pre-IPO access to SpaceX.

That, according to data from Moringstar, would be the Tema Space Innovators ETF, which just launched (sorry) at the end of March. The actively managed fund, which trades under the ticker symbol of NASA, has exposure to SpaceX through a special purpose vehicle (SPV), a pool that purchases privately held shares.

The fund’s SpaceX exposure is its largest holding, accounting for 11.1% of its assets. NASA also owns Rocket Lab, Planet Labs and Firefly Aerospace, which went public last August, as top holdings. The fund is up more than 25% from where it finished its first day of trading on March 31. So investors are clearly buying into the excitement surrounding SpaceX’s IPO, as well as the space economy in general.

“You can’t have a space ETF without SpaceX. It’s like having a semiconductor ETF without Nvidia,” said Yuri Khodjamirian, chief investment officer of Tema ETFs in an interview with Barron’s. “We thought it was worth getting a private stake before the IPO.”

SpaceX is a pre-IPO holding in three other ETFs, according to Morningstar: the ERShares Private-Public Crossover ETF, Ron Baron’s Baron First Principles ETF, and the KraneShares Artificial Intelligence and Technology ETF. But none of them are pure play space funds like NASA.

But other space-themed funds, despite their current lack of SpaceX exposure, are also riding the SpaceX hype rocket. The Procure Space ETF, which trades under the ticker UFO and is based on an index of space stocks, is up more than 40% this year.

UFO does not own SpaceX yet, but VettaFi, which runs the index that the ETF is based on, recently announced it is changing its rules to allow for “day-one” access to IPOs such as SpaceX.

And Procure Holdings CEO Andrew Chanin told Barron’s that UFO already has an indirect stake in SpaceX through its position in EchoStar, the satellite company and SpaceX partner that has invested in SpaceX. He added that the SpaceX IPO is “a positive for capital markets and the global space economy.”

UFO is just one of several ETFs catered to the business of space. Cathie Wood’s actively managed ARK Space & Defense Innovation ETF, has gained nearly 20% this year. It also has no SpaceX exposure but the company’s ARK Venture interval fund has a stake. The State Street SPDR S&P Kensho Final Frontiers ETF, with the ticker symbol of ROKT, is another space ETF, and it’s up almost 35% in 2026. It’s based on an index and also does not own SpaceX.

Several other new funds have also recently lifted off. The Roundhill Space & Technology ETF made its debut in March. The fund is actively managed and trades under the ticker symbol of MARS. It’s up more than 35%.

The Global X Space Tech ETF took off in mid-April with the ticker of ORBX and has gained more than 10%. ORBX is a passively managed ETF. And VanEck announced on Thursday that it was getting ready to debut the VanEck Space ETF, which will be based on an index and trade with the ticker of WARP. VanEck product manager Nick Frasse said in a statement that WARP will “reflect the growing importance the space economy is playing in building out the world’s communications network and digital infrastructure.”

And then there’s the Defiance Connective Technologies ETF, which has big holdings in Apple, Nvidia and Broadcom. Space companies AST SpaceMobile, Rocket Lab, EchoStar and Planet Labs are top 10 positions too.

The fund, based on an index, recently changed its ticker from SIXG to UFOX. It’s up nearly 45% this year.

So it looks like many space ETFs have already rocketed into the stratosphere—with or without direct SpaceX exposure. It will be interesting to see how they fare once SpaceX begins trading and how quickly these funds wind up adding the stock to their portfolios.