The New Zealand peninsula of Mahia regularly delivers spectacular images for space fans. It is from a plateau surrounded by the Pacific that the US company Rocket Lab sends its Electron launch rockets into orbit. After launching, the 18 metre-long, 13-tonne vehicle accelerates to nearly 27,000 km/h before reaching zero gravity at an altitude of just under 270 kilometres. The Electron transports payloads weighing up to 300 kg into low-earth orbits. In 2025 this service – as well as its New Zealand site, Rocket Lab also operates a launch facility in the US state of Virginia – was more in demand than ever. By 21 November the company had completed 18 starts – every single one of them a success. In the third quarter alone, Rocket Lab received orders for another 17 flights. The order book for the division has thus grown by more than half to USDmn 509 in a matter of just twelve months. Its customers include state aerospace agencies and security authorities as well as private companies.
Rocket Lab is reflecting its operational development by offering plenty of thrust on the stock market too. The capitalisation of the company, which is listed on the Nasdaq, the US technology index, has almost doubled within twelve months. Its share has thus played a part in the strong performance of the Swissquote Space Economy Index. As a “pure play”, Rocket Lab is a must-have in this selection totalling 35 companies from the international space economy. Swissquote added the space economy to its “Themes Trading” series in 2021. Since then, the experts at the online broker have been bringing into the actively managed benchmark companies whose technical innovations facilitate the step beyond the Earth's atmosphere. The investment universe includes satellite-based broadband internet as well as the aviation and aerospace, defence, hardware and telecommunication sectors.
From the start, the portfolio managers have been paying particular attention to specialists for reusable rockets. Rocket Lab meets this criterion. The first stage of the Electron rocket returns to Earth by parachute. After landing in the sea, it is brought back to the launchpad by ship and prepared for the next flight. According to Swissquote, this practice will make it cheaper and more efficient to transport smaller payloads. In general, the space economy is closely linked to security and defence interests. To that extent the index has also profited from rising expenditure on weapons and the strength of shares in this sector. Palantir Technologies, the specialist in security software and a Nasdaq high-flyer, is one such member of the space economy pick, where it sits alongside broad-based industrial giants such as Airbus, Boeing, BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin. These bring stability, whereas setbacks or even failed missions pose a risk to the pure plays. In addition, these companies are sometimes deep in the red. Returning to Rocket Lab, analysts believe the company will not turn a profit until 2027 at the earliest.
Leonteq is enabling investment in the Swissquote Space Economy Index through a tracker certificate. The participation product is quoted on the SIX Swiss Exchange, so investors profit from the longer trading hours. It has recently allowed structured products to be bought and sold from 8.00am to 9.45pm, almost six hours longer than before. This service is an advantage for the tracker if only because the majority of the shares contained in the index are listed on Wall Street. All in all, the certificate offers liquid and flexible access to a flourishing sector of the economy. Active management ensures that the diversified investment always has its finger on the pulse. On the cost side, there is a fee of 0.25% p.a. for the calculation agent and a management charge of 0.40% p.a.
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