Market Outlook: New ETFs target space economy and propulsion tech

Investors looking for exposure to the growing space economy now have new ETF options targeting aerospace companies, satellite operators and advanced propulsion technology.

BNN Bloomberg spoke with Matthew Tuttle, CEO and CIO at Tuttle Capital Management, about two ETFs tied to the theme, including one focused on aerospace and defence suppliers linked to emerging propulsion technologies and another designed to generate weekly dividend income from space industry stocks.

Key Takeaways

• One ETF focuses on aerospace, defence and industrial companies linked to advanced propulsion and energy technologies that may emerge from government research.
• Holdings include major defence contractors and suppliers such as Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and DuPont that could benefit from future aerospace innovations.
• A second ETF targets the commercial space industry, investing in companies involved in satellite communications, launch services and space infrastructure.
• The space-focused fund holds a concentrated portfolio of companies including Rocket Lab, Iridium Communications, Globalstar and AST SpaceMobile.
• The fund aims to generate weekly income by writing put options on its holdings, rather than relying on traditional stock dividends.

Read the full transcript below:

ANDREW: We know there’s enormous excitement over the potential SpaceX IPO, when and if it comes. Let’s take a look at a couple of ETFs that already offer a play on space and space-related technology. We’re joined by Matthew Tuttle, CEO and CIO of Tuttle Capital Management. Thanks very much indeed for joining us.

MATTHEW: Thanks for having me.

ANDREW: Start off with SpaceX, if you would. What are you hearing? Do you think people are possibly taking undue risks to try to get ahead of the SpaceX IPO?

MATTHEW: Yeah, I mean it is probably the most anticipated IPO that we’ve ever seen. And it’ll probably be a little bit frothy. But in our mind, the space economy is a massive investment theme that you want to have exposure to. When SpaceX comes public, that’s going to be the leader, so it’s going to be a must-own stock for people. I’d maybe wait for some of the froth around the IPO before I bought in.

ANDREW: Let’s start with a couple of your shop’s ETFs. You’ve got UFOD, the Tuttle Capital UFO Disclosure ETF. Why has it got that name, and what does it offer to investors?

MATTHEW: Yeah, so what that ETF is about — the idea behind it — is something we call the “secret gap.” What you see from the government, we generally think they’re 30, 40 or 50 years ahead. We saw that with the internet, with GPS and with self-driving technology. Those all started out as government programs that eventually made it into public use.

So with UFOD, we’re speculating that the government has technology around propulsion and energy that we haven’t seen yet. Now it could be reverse engineered from UFOs or not. It doesn’t really matter, but it’s more fun if it is reverse-engineered alien technology.

ANDREW: So it’s partly a tongue-in-cheek name here.

MATTHEW: No, definitely not a tongue-in-cheek name. If Roswell was actually real, then we’re set up to benefit from that.

ANDREW: OK, so let’s have a look at some of the holdings in UFOD. Amentum Holdings, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman — familiar defence stocks there — and also a chemical giant, DuPont. How would they relate to the technology you suspect exists that is far ahead of what’s available publicly?

MATTHEW: Yeah, so what we look at when we look at different themes like this is: who are the obvious winners? Who are the companies that might already have this technology? That’s where you get companies like Lockheed Martin.

But then you also look at the suppliers to those winners — the companies that are going to create what those winners need to commercialize that technology. That’s where a company like DuPont comes in, with what they’re doing in chemicals and materials. You’re going to need a lot of things to make this technology work and bring it to consumers.

ANDREW: You have another ETF that you’ve just launched. It’s called the Tuttle Capital Space Industry Income Blast. This one is designed to pay a regular dividend.

MATTHEW: Yeah, so this is going to pay a weekly dividend. It’s got exposure to 11 names that, when you look at the space economy, are the ones you want to own. There’s no fluff — we don’t have 50 names in here. It’s highly concentrated in the big space names.

And the way we like to look at things is: if something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing with a weekly dividend.

ANDREW: How will you do that? These stocks don’t really pay dividends.

MATTHEW: No. What we do is write options on these stocks. A lot of people write call options, but we think that’s a bad idea because you give up your upside. What we’re doing instead is writing put options on these stocks. Those puts generate income, and that’s the income we’re going to distribute to shareholders every week.

ANDREW: Of course, the risk is that you might have to buy these stocks at higher than their market prices. So I’m assuming you’re happy owning these equities.

MATTHEW: These are names that we already own in the portfolio, and yes, if the puts get exercised, we would own more of those names. This is an area where I think investors need to have some exposure.

ANDREW: Just looping back to UFOD — because the other one you just launched hasn’t gathered massive assets yet. It’s less than $2 million, so you haven’t attracted that many investors yet.

MATTHEW: Not yet, but the news cycle is playing in our favour. We had Obama and Trump basically tell you aliens are real, and now we’re waiting to see what they disclose.

ANDREW: I don’t know if they were that categorical. Anyway, we could debate that. Given the speed of light being fixed, I’m skeptical about UFOs, but nobody’s asking my opinion.

MATTHEW: We will see.

ANDREW: We’ll have to agree to disagree. But it’s a fascinating idea that the government may have technology it’s been careful to hide so far. Matthew, we’ll leave it there. Thank you very much indeed for joining us.

MATTHEW: Thank you for having me.

ANDREW: Matthew Tuttle, CEO and chief investment officer of Tuttle Capital Management.

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This BNN Bloomberg summary and transcript of the March 12, 2026 interview with Matthew Tuttle are published with the assistance of AI. Original research, interview questions and added context was created by BNN Bloomberg journalists. An editor also reviewed this material before it was published to ensure its accuracy and adherence with BNN Bloomberg editorial policies and standards.