First Trust lists its space economy ETF, with a TER of 0.65%, on the LSE

First Trust Global Portfolios has today listed the First Trust Bloomberg Space Economy UCITS ETF, ISIN IE000ANMCD25, on the London Stock Exchange and Borsa Italiana.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Article created by the editorial staff of ETFWorld.co.uk

Rupert Haddon Managing Director at First Trust Global Portfolios

The First Trust Bloomberg Space Economy UCITS ETF (ISIN IE000ANMCD25) tracks the Bloomberg Space Economy Index, providing exposure to four segments of the space industry

The passively managed fund tracks the Bloomberg Space Economy Index and has a Total Expense Ratio (TER) of 0.65%. The new ETF offers European investors UCITS-compliant access to the space economy theme – the economic sector encompassing space awareness, space launch and transport, satellites and communications, space data and artificial intelligence.

Fund objective and characteristics

The First Trust Bloomberg Space Economy UCITS ETF is a passively managed index fund. Its stated objective is to provide investment returns that correspond, gross of fees and expenses, to the price and return of the Bloomberg Space Economy Index.

The index measures the performance of companies with exposure to the space economy, organised into four areas:

• space domain awareness;
• launch and space transportation;
• satellites and communications;
• space data and artificial intelligence.

To be included in the index, companies must meet specific criteria, including membership of the Bloomberg Intelligence Space Basket, a universe of securities with significant exposure to the space economy theme as defined by Bloomberg Intelligence.

The fund’s TER stands at 0.65 per cent, a cost level consistent with the mid-range of passively managed UCITS thematic products listed on European exchanges.

First Trust’s offering in Europe

The launch forms part of a thematic expansion strategy that First Trust Global Portfolios has been pursuing for some time in the European UCITS market, in partnership with Bloomberg Intelligence for index construction. In recent months, the company has expanded its range of Bloomberg-branded thematic ETFs: in January 2026, it listed the First Trust Bloomberg Nuclear Power UCITS ETF (RCTR) on the London Stock Exchange, available in two share classes – in US dollars (RCTU) and in pounds sterling (RCTR) – with a TER of 0.70%. Previously, it had listed the First Trust Bloomberg Scarce Resources UCITS ETF (SCAR) on the London and Milan stock exchanges, focusing on companies exposed to real assets with limited supply or production capacity.

The First Trust Bloomberg Space Economy UCITS ETF follows the same listing structure already used for the Scarce Resources fund, with dual listings on Borsa Italiana and the London Stock Exchange.

The market context: the space economy between institutional investments and IPOs

The launch comes at a time of intense media and financial attention on the space sector. On 12 June 2026, SpaceX made its debut on the Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX, in what has been described as the largest initial public offering in the history of the financial markets, raising $75 billion and achieving an implied valuation of approximately $1.77 trillion. The share opened trading at $150 per share, up 11 per cent on the offering price of $135.

SpaceX’s IPO has refocused the attention of institutional and retail investors on the entire space economy sector, an area which in recent years has expanded well beyond space launches in the strict sense to include satellite communications infrastructure, artificial intelligence applications linked to space data, and services supporting security and defence.

It should be noted that the First Trust Bloomberg Space Economy UCITS ETF should not be confused with its US counterpart, the First Trust Bloomberg Space Economy ETF (NYSE Arca: FSPC), launched by First Trust Advisors L.P. on 9 July 2026 and domiciled in the United States. The two products share the same benchmark, the Bloomberg Space Economy Index, and the same thematic approach, but they are legally distinct vehicles: FSPC is a US fund listed in US dollars on NYSE Arca, whilst the product listed today in Milan and London is a UCITS fund domiciled in Ireland, designed for retail and institutional distribution in Europe.

Why a UCITS ETF on the space economy

For European investors, UCITS listing provides access to the space economy theme via a vehicle regulated at EU level, tradable in euros on Borsa Italiana and in pounds or dollars on the London Stock Exchange, without the tax and regulatory complexities associated with the direct purchase of a US ETF.

The space economy theme is characterised by a high-risk profile, typical of thematic funds focused on small- and mid-cap companies, which are often dependent on a limited number of key contracts and on public and private investment cycles that are still in the process of consolidation. Interested investors should assess these factors alongside the TER and the fund’s sectoral composition before making any investment decision.

Conclusions

First Trust Global Portfolios has expanded its range of UCITS-compliant thematic ETFs with a product dedicated to the space economy, listed on 30 July 2026 on Borsa Italiana and the London Stock Exchange with ISIN IE000ANMCD25 and a TER of 0.65%. The fund tracks the Bloomberg Space Economy Index, constructed by Bloomberg Intelligence across four thematic categories linked to the space industry. The launch comes against a market backdrop made particularly dynamic by SpaceX’s recent IPO on the Nasdaq and joins other Bloomberg-branded thematic ETFs already listed by First Trust in Europe, such as Nuclear Power and Scarce Resources.

Source: ETFWorld