NASA vs ORBX

NASACTema Space Innovators ETF

ORBXCGlobal X Space Tech ETF

In short

NASA It landed the ticker every space fund wanted. NASA is a concentrated, roughly 40-stock read on the space economy, from defense systems to space tourism, and it trades like a much older fund.

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

NASA The Fund seeks long-term growth through investments connected with space-related innovation, including areas such as defense systems and space tourism.

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

• NASA One ticker, the whole launchpad: about 40 names tied to space innovation, spanning defense systems through space tourism.
• Charges 0.75% a year, right at the median for space ETFs, so the concentrated active approach costs no more than the category norm.
• Very actively traded and already north of a billion in assets, so getting in and out is rarely the hard part.
• Lands in the upper half of its space-fund peer group on our overall read, helped by how cleanly it trades.

• 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

• NASA Cheaper orbits exist: ROKT charges 0.45% and ORBX 0.50%, against 0.75% here.
• A 2026 launch with about 40 holdings in a story-driven sector: thin history to judge, and single names carry real weight.
• Built for long-term growth, not income. It has not paid a distribution.

• 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 NASA profile⁠

Full ORBX profile⁠