ARKX vs ORBX

ARKXCARK Space & Defense Innovation ETF

ORBXCGlobal X Space Tech ETF

In short

ARKX ARK's only space fund, and one of the rare ones in its niche run by stock pickers instead of an index. Roughly 40 global names spanning rockets, the technology that makes them work, and the companies that quietly cash in.

ORBX Space investing usually carries a 0.75% toll. ORBX charges 0.50% for a global basket of roughly 40 companies spanning launch systems, satellites, orbital transport and space tourism. The whole launchpad, not one slice of it.

Stated mandate

ARKX The fund seeks long-term capital growth by actively investing mainly in domestic and foreign equity securities of companies involved in space and defense innovation, including aerospace, enabling technologies, and aerospace beneficiaries.

ORBX ORBX seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Global X Space Tech Index. It invests in companies benefiting from commercialization of the global space economy across launch systems, space technology and components, orbital transport, satellite-enabled services, and space exploration or tourism.

Why people hold it

• ARKX Actively managed rather than index-tracked: ARK's team hand-picks roughly 40 names instead of buying whatever screens as 'space'.ark-funds.com
• The mandate reaches past rocket builders to enabling technologies and aerospace beneficiaries, companies that profit from orbit without ever leaving the ground.
• Global by charter, holding both US and foreign shares, so the theme isn't capped at American launch providers and defense primes.
• Running since 2021 and actively traded at a decent size, which puts it in the upper half of the space-fund group on the practical stuff.

• ORBX At 0.50%, it undercuts the 0.75% sticker worn by UFO, ARKX and NASA. Same theme, smaller toll.
• The index reaches across the whole stack: launch systems, space components, orbital transport, satellite-enabled services, exploration and tourism. Not a pure rocket bet.globalxetfs.com
• Rules-based, index-tracked and global, holding roughly 40 names. That package lands in the upper tier of the small space-ETF field.

Worth knowing

• ARKX The 0.75% fee sits right at the median for space funds and above index-based rivals such as ROKT (0.45%) and ORBX (0.50%).
• Roughly 40 holdings plus a human making the calls means single positions and ARK's stock-picking judgment both carry real weight here.
• The stated goal is long-term capital growth, not income; the fund has not been making regular distributions.

• ORBX Concentration cuts both ways: about 40 stocks in one young industry, so swings run wider than a broad-market fund.
• Launched in 2026, so there is little history to judge it by and the asset base is still building.
• Income is not part of the design; this is a growth theme, not a payout sleeve.

Full ARKX profile⁠

Full ORBX profile⁠