VanEck launches 'WARP' space ETF to tap into exploration and satellite boom

Asset manager VanEck has launched a space ETF that it says will give advisors and investors a way to tap into the booming space industry.

The VanEck Space ETF, which boasts the ticker ‘WARP’, tracks the MarketVector Space Index (MVWARP), which itself tracks the performance of companies involved in space exploration, equipment, and communications. The index’s top components are Planet Labs (Ticker: PL), Viasat (Ticker: VSAT), EchoStar (Ticker: SATS), Rocket Lab Corporation (Ticker: RKLB), and Iridium Communications Inc. (Ticker: IRDM).

“Space is becoming a distinct and investable theme, supported by powerful long-term growth drivers. The economics of space are changing rapidly, allowing for a growing universe of investable companies with meaningful commercial exposure,” said VenEck Product Manager Nick Frasse, in a statement. “WARP offers focused exposure to companies primarily involved in launch systems, satellite infrastructure and space-enabled data.”

The launch is not completely out of the blue. Earlier this year, at the Exchange ETF conference in Las Vegas, VanEck CEO Jan van Eck told InvestmentNews that the asset manager was in the process of launching a U.S. space ETF.

This is not uncharted territory for VanEck. Since 2022, the company has offered its VanEck Space Innovators UCITS ETF, which boasts the particularly apropos ticker symbol 'JEDI'. However, which is only available in Europe to European investors, follows a different index to 'WARP'.

The space industry clearly presents opportunity - McKinsey projects that the so-called space economy will be worth $1.8 trillion by 2035, up from $630 billion in 2023.

Space ETFs have been garnering attention amid the looming SpaceX IPO and NASA’s successful Artemis II mission.

Other space-focused funds include the Procure Space ETF (Ticker: UFO), which was launched in 2019 by ProcureAM and counts Viasat, Planet Labs, Globalstar (Ticker: GSAT), Sirius XM Holdings (Ticker: SIRI), and Rocket Lab as its top holdings.

Cathie Woods’ Ark Invest is also involved in space ETFs via the Ark Space & Defense Innovation ETF (Ticker: ARKX), which has Rocket Lab, L3Harris Technologies (Ticker: LHX), AMD (Ticker: AMD), Teradyne (Ticker:TER) and Deere & Co. (Ticker: DE) as its top holdings.