To the Moon: Space Isn't Just for Billionaires. It's for You TooTo your parents, getting involved in space meant joining NASA, becoming an astronaut, or — more realistically — building a scale model of the Saturn V and telling them you wanted to be "just like Neil Armstrong."
Today? You don’t need a PhD, perfect vision, or the ability to survive on dehydrated ice cream. The economics of orbit is accessible from your screen through the shares of publicly listed companies.
While billionaires are busy trying to out-flex each other in orbit, there’s a rapidly growing group of public companies that you can use as a launchpad to space exposure.
Let's explore (pun intended) how space is no longer science fiction only — it's an economic sector you can trade.
🚀 SpaceX: The Giant with a Gravitational Field
First, let’s get this out of the way: SpaceX is still private. Elon Musk’s rocket-powered unicorn dominates the headlines — and deservedly so. The company is launching Starlink satellites by the hundreds, winning NASA contracts, and discussing building cities on Mars where we can move and grow space potatoes.
But unless you have deep VC connections or you run a private equity fund, you can’t buy SpaceX stock yet. (Cue the tiny violin.) According to private-market estimates, SpaceX boasts a valuation of $350 billion, making it the world’s most expensive private company.
What you can do is invest in companies that supply, compete with, or benefit from the SpaceX era. Here are a few ideas.
🛸 Rocket Lab NASDAQ:RKLB : The Mini-SpaceX
If SpaceX is the Goliath of orbital launches, Rocket Lab is the David — except instead of a slingshot, it's using the Electron rocket and prepping the bigger Neutron.
Rocket Lab specializes in small satellite launches — think communications, Earth observation, climate monitoring. The company is cheaper, faster, and more frequent than the heavy-lifters like Falcon 9 by SpaceX. If you’re bullish on the boom in low-Earth orbit activity, Rocket Lab could be the small-cap rocket you can strap your portfolio to.
Bonus points — it’s not just a launch company. Rocket Lab, valued at around $10 billion, is expanding into satellite manufacturing, in-orbit services, and deep space missions.
👽 Intuitive Machines NASDAQ:LUNR : Houston, We Have a Moonshot
With a ticker symbol NASDAQ:LUNR — obviously leaning into the Moon theme — Intuitive is all about lunar landers and space infrastructure. The company is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, helping deliver payloads (science experiments, rovers, tech gizmos) to the Moon.
In the absence of crypto moons, these guys are aiming for the real thing.
But be warned: Intuitive is a true moonshot investment. As recently as March, the company's moon lander, Athena, couldn't pull off a stellar touchdown and its shares nosedived roughly 60%. Year to date, the stock is down 55%.
The startup is pioneering in a market that doesn’t quite exist yet at scale. Revenues are coming in phases, tied to contracts, with success as lumpy as a Moon crater. In a nutshell? It's a high-risk, high-reward kind of ride.
Still — if you're looking for an early, pure-play exposure to the Moon economy, Intuitive Machines, valued at just $1.5 billion, is basically as close as you can get.
🌟 Northrop Grumman NYSE:NOC : The Silent Space Titan
While Rocket Lab and Intuitive Machines get the Reddit buzz, Northrop Grumman keeps a low profile, winning contracts and building stuff that actually gets yeeted into space.
The company is deeply involved in NASA’s Artemis program, manufacturing boosters for the Space Launch System (SLS) — the rocket that’s supposed to return humans to the Moon. It also makes satellite systems, missile defense tech, and stealthy aerospace goodies for the US government.
Northrop isn’t going to quadruple overnight on a meme rally — it’s worth just under $70 billion. But it provides serious, steady exposure to the high-stakes space game — with dividends. It’s the choice for traders who like their moonshots with a side of mature risk management.
✨ Lockheed Martin NYSE:LMT : Space Cowboys in Business Suits
Lockheed Martin isn’t just the F-35 fighter jet company. It also builds the Orion spacecraft — NASA’s chosen ride for deep space missions, including Mars (if Elon doesn’t get there first).
Lockheed’s space division covers everything from weather satellites to missile warning systems. The company, worth around $111 billion, has been in the space race before Jeff Bezos came up with Blue Origin and way before Musk founded SpaceX.
Think of Lockheed like the expert-level astronaut: calm, collected, and still racking up mission hours while everyone else is learning which button not to press.
💫 Boeing NYSE:BA : Sometimes Up, Sometimes… Not So Much
Boeing’s Starliner capsule is supposed to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station. Supposed to. It’s been delayed more times than your average budget airline flight.
The astronauts that were stuck in space for nine months? Riding a Starliner that failed during docking (the mission was supposed to be a ten-day roundtrip). So Musk’s SpaceX had to intervene and bring those two space explorers back to earth in March.
Still, despite technical hiccups and PR headaches, Boeing remains heavily involved in the space economy. It builds rockets, satellites, and space station modules. Even when it trips, it trips forward — thanks to government contracts and industrial clout.
If you can stomach some turbulence, Boeing, worth $134 billion, offers another angle on the space trade.
🌙 RTX NYSE:RTX : Watching the Skies
You may not think "space" when you hear RTX (formerly Raytheon), but you should. The company builds sensors, satellites, and missile tracking systems — vital components of the US space and defense apparatus.
Space isn’t just about launching astronauts and rovers; it's about surveillance, communications, and security. RTX, valued at a whopping $168 billion, plays behind the scenes, helping make space a battlefield for signals, not soldiers.
Steady, profitable, and sneakily important, RTX is the stealth bomber of space stocks.
🪐 Other Orbit-Worthy Notables
Outside of the headliners, there’s a growing constellation of companies playing critical roles in space commerce:
Redwire NYSE:RDW : In-space manufacturing and tech solutions.
Blacksky Technology NYSE:BKSY : Real-time satellite imagery and analytics.
Virgin Galactic NYSE:SPCE : Richard Branson’s waning dream of space tourism, working to make suborbital flights a regular experience (careful, though, the stock is down 99.9% from peak).
☄️ Your Portfolio Doesn't Have to Stay on Earth
Space is no longer just a billionaire’s playground or a sci-fi dream. It's an investable theme — one that covers exploration, infrastructure, defense, data, and connectivity.
Sure, the sector is volatile. There will be delays, explosions (hopefully unmanned), stock swings, and moments where it all seems like an expensive science experiment. But there’s also real innovation, massive contracts, and a trillion-dollar economy forming right above our heads.
The thing is, while the biggest names in tech make the headlines and get daily coverage , you won’t see those space companies featured on the front page of big financial journals or covered in the weekly take of your financial podcast.
Traders who are serious about catching the big moves before they blast off should keep one tool close: the earnings calendar . These companies’ quarterly reports highlight progress, revenue, profit or loss figures, and present forward-looking guidance to act as a compass to traders and investors.
The economics of space isn’t just exciting because it’s shiny and futuristic — it’s exciting because the groundwork is being laid quietly, deal by deal, launch by launch. And the traders who are paying attention before the crowd shows up? They’re the ones best positioned for lift-off.
Your turn : Are you already investing in the space economy? Did we miss any names in there? Tell us — what’s your favorite way to reach for the stars? ✨🚀🌔
