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UFO: Investing in the space economy

Procure Space (Ticker symbol UFO) is a little known Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) available to average investors that is the only such vehicle focusing mainly on the space industry. Created by ProcureAM, LLC the ETF trades on the NASDAQ stock exchange. The objective of the fund is to track the S-Network Space Index which is designed to measure the performance of companies engaged in space-related industries. In the future, additional companies engaged in other space-related industries may emerge and be added to the index. These industries could include space colonization and infrastructure, among others.

Procure Space ETF (UFO) portfolio breakdown by industry sector and country. Graphic credit: ProcureAM
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Pros and Cons of Trump’s Executive Order on Encouraging International Support for the Recovery and Use of Space Resources

SpaceWatch.Global examines arguments in support and against the EO. Christopher Johnson of Secure World Foundation states in the position in favor:

“The US would like to [be] the leading nation in the use of space resources. It’s worth noting that other States are also interested in space resources, such as Luxembourg, and others.”

On the side arguing against the EO, Dimitra Stefoudi of the University of Leiden says:

“Applied to outer space, the concept of global commons could be interpreted as prohibiting rights over resources found in that area, particularly for commercial purposes, and would be contrary to the US policy of promoting such rights for commercial actors.”

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Executive order authorizes the commercial use of space resources

The document states that “Americans should have the right to engage in commercial exploration, recovery, and use of resources in outer space, consistent with applicable law. Outer space is a legally and physically unique domain of human activity, and the United States does not view it as a global commons. Accordingly, it shall be the policy of the United States to encourage international support for the public and private recovery and use of resources in outer space, consistent with applicable law”

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Property rights and space settlement

Does the Outer Space Treaty allow the establishment of property rights for space settlement? Rand Simberg explains that through the use of multilateral agreements among like-minded nations, the accord may actually be more permissive then originally thought