By Christiana Sciaudone
Investing.com -- Space companies are soaring after news that Cathie Wood's Ark Invest is creating a "Space Exploration ETF."
Ark Invest, known for investing in disruptive innovation, said in a filing that the new exchange traded fund would focus on companies that are “leading, enabling, or benefitting from technologically enabled products and/or services that occur beyond the surface of the earth."
Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc (NYSE:SPCE) rose 20% and Maxar Technologies (NYSE:MAXR) is up 30%, even though no company has yet been named for inclusion.
Ark's flagship ARK Innovation fund returned more than 170% last year, according to CNBC, and has assets under management of $17 billion. The fund's largest holding is Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), and last month Wood told CNBC that she has a $7,000 price target for the electric vehicle maker. (For reference, it's trading around $860 now). Tesla's Elon Musk is founder of SpaceX.
“Space exploration is possible due to the convergence of a number of themes, and a Space Exploration Company may not currently derive any revenue, and there is no assurance that such company will derive any revenue from innovative technologies in the future,” according to the filing.
The ETF will trade under the ticker ARKX.