While Everyone Drools Over SpaceX, These 3 Under-the-Radar Space Economy Plays Are Actually Affordable
With $55B in VC flowing into space economy companies last year, the real alpha might be hiding in names nobody's Googling
Ticker Ratings
Everyone's fighting over SpaceX allocations like it's a Taylor Swift presale. The IPO priced at $135/share, raised $75 billion, and is trading on Nasdaq under a ticker that three different Bloomberg segments couldn't agree on. Meanwhile, CNBC reminded us that $55 billion in venture capital poured into space economy companies last year alone — and almost none of that buzz is touching the small-cap names that could actually move on a SpaceX coattail trade.
First up: $RKLB (Rocket Lab USA). Market cap under $10B, real launch revenue, and every time SpaceX dominates headlines, Rocket Lab quietly picks up the customers who can't afford Falcon 9 pricing. The CNBC segment comparing SpaceX's launch cost reductions to AWS enabling DoorDash? That's Rocket Lab's entire pitch deck. Second: $ASTS (AST SpaceMobile). Direct-to-device satellite broadband, partnerships with AT&T and Vodafone, and a total addressable market that makes traditional telco look like a lemonade stand. Third: $MNTS (Momentus Inc.) — space infrastructure services at a market cap so small it's practically rounding error on SpaceX's catering bill.
The SpaceX IPO is the rising tide. These three boats are already in the water — and nobody's checked the dock yet.