Key Dates in July for the underlying theme of our Space ETF
- 11th July- Sir Richard Branson looks to take Virgin Galactic on its first space flight to beat rival Blue Origin and founder Jeff Bezos to Space.
- 20th July - Jeff Bezos looks to take Blue Origin to space for its first passenger flight
- 20th July - 52nd anniversary of first ever Lunar Landing
Performance Review
Companies in this industry and constituents of our space ETF have been driven by increased investment demand and media coverage. Investors have looked at Space as one of the next big opportunities and are looking at various ways of expressing this investment thesis. Space has also helped increase the valuations of private companies in the industry.
Industry News
US releases UFO Report to the public stating that objects observed by navy pilots cannot be explain, although they do not believe aliens are behind them. Over the past two decades, the Pentagon has observed more than 140 incidents reporting unidentified aerial phenomena, many of which were reported from the summer of 2014 and the spring of 2015.[1]
Two Chinese astronauts have made the first space walk outside of the Tiangong space station[2]
Arianespace launches 36 OneWeb internet satellites which will allow OneWeb to provide internet coverage to far-northern latitudes. The UK-based company plans to launch a total of 648 OneWeb satellites, providing coverage to places such as Canada, Alaska and Northern Europe.[3]
SpaceX also launched satellites in June as part of a rideshare mission. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket took off with 88 satellites to deliver from a range of government and commercial consumers.[4]
These events have put the space industry front and center on a global stage. The increased media coverage and investment demand has helped drive positive price activity across many players in the space industry. Geopolitical pressures have forced nations to increase spending
towards space in order compete with adversaries.
Performance Table (As of 30.06.2021)
|
|
1M
|
3M
|
6M
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YTD
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12M
|
SI
|
|
S-Network Space Index
|
3.23%
|
9.25%
|
22.99%
|
22.99%
|
57.83%
|
3.23%
|
Performance before inception is based on back tested data. Back testing is the process of evaluating an investment strategy by applying it to historical data to simulate what the performance of such strategy would have been. Back tested data does not represent actual performance and should not be interpreted as an indication of actual or future performance. Past performance for the index is in USD. Past performance is not an indicator for future results and should not be the sole factor of consideration when selecting a product. Investors should read the prospectus of the Issuer (“Prospectus”) before investing and should refer to the section of the Prospectus entitled ‘Risk Factors’ for further details of risks associated with an investment in this product. Source: Bloomberg / HANetf. Data as of 30/06/2021
Constituent News
New companies added to the index:
MDA - Canadian company recently turned public working globally with space mission partners with a specialty focus on robotics, satellite systems and geointelligence. Currently assisting on projects to build permanent Lunar colonies and Earth observation tools.
Globalstar- Satellite solutions for businesses and individual consumers. Specialty in fleet asset tracking, enabling IoT technologies and mobile connectivity. Developer of satellite phones and tracking devices.
AST Space Mobile - Space-based cellular broadband network. Spreading wireless internet and communications around the globe.
TomTom - Leader in GPS technology for mapping and navigation. Numerous contracts with large automakers and technology firms.
Outlook
A tremendous amount of attention has been brought to the space industry this year. New entrants have secured government contracts, private companies have come public via IPOs and successful DeSPACs. Most recently bringing attention has been the billionaire space race between Bezos and Branson. On 7/11, Branson officially won the race between Virgin Galactic and Bezos’ Blue Origin.
On 7/20, Jeff Bezos plans to take Blue Origins inaugural trip to space as the world and the wealthy await a better idea of the comparison between the expensive space tourism options now on the market. 7/20 also marks the 52nd anniversary of the Lunar Landing.
In international news, China continues to make progress building out its newest space station.
They have successfully sent several astronauts (Taikonauts) to their space station to continue the work of building out and expanding the current
station to allow for more arrivals of astronauts and researchers. This is a major step for the build out of Chinese space ambitions which aim to supplant the US as the dominant player in outer space. Space Race 2.0 is well underway as the US and other countries/regions look to expand budgets towards expanding space capabilities for communications and militarily, both offensively and defensively.
Learn more about our Space ETF here.