NASA ETF Tumbles Toward Launch Lows Amid SpaceX Selloff — But Tema Quietly Adds Over 5M ASTS, RKLB And LUNR Shares

• Tema added 5.73 million shares across LUNR, RKLB and ASTS, worth about $320.5 million combined.
• SpaceX remains NASA’s largest holding at 17%, followed by RKLB at 10%, ASTS at 6% and LUNR at 4%.
• Tema added 3.1 million LUNR shares, backing Intuitive Machines after major NASA contract wins.

The Tema Space Innovators ETF (NASA) is sliding back toward its launch lows as SpaceX (SPCX) gives up much of its post-IPO surge, even as fresh filings show the fund quietly built a 5.7 million-share bet across AST SpaceMobile (ASTS), Rocket Lab (RKLB) and Intuitive Machines (LUNR).

In overnight trading late Sunday, ASTS fell 3%, while RKLB, LUNR and SPCX each slipped about 2%. The NASA ETF is trading around $26.18, its lowest level since its first full session on March 31. 

Tema Adds 5.7M Shares Of RKLB, ASTS, LUNR

According to institutional ownership disclosures compiled by Quiver Quantitative, Tema ETFs added a combined 5.73 million shares of LUNR, RKLB and ASTS during the quarter ended June 30. The filings show Tema added 3.1 million LUNR shares, 1.6 million RKLB shares and 1 million ASTS shares, with the combined positions worth about $320.5 million at quarter-end.

The buying comes as SpaceX has lost momentum after its blockbuster public debut. Last week, SpaceX closed below its $150 debut-day opening price for the first time, despite its inclusion in the Nasdaq-100. The stock is currently trading around $145, about 7% above its $135 IPO price, but 28% below its post-listing high of $200. The decline came ahead of Nasdaq-100 inclusion, suggesting that much of the expected buying from passive index funds had already been priced in. Broader tech weakness also weighed on shares.

Over the weekend, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman renewed their long-running feud on X, trading barbs over AI and SpaceX's plans to deploy orbital data centers. The weakness matters since SpaceX accounts for 17% of the NASA ETF's assets, making it by far the fund's largest holding. Rocket Lab is the second-largest position at 10%, followed by AST SpaceMobile at 6% and Intuitive Machines at 4%.

Launched in March, the actively managed ETF now oversees roughly $1.31 billion across 38 holdings spanning launch providers, satellite operators, communications infrastructure and a few private space companies.

Tema Bets On Lunar And Launch Growth 

Tema added 3.1 million shares in LUNR, lifting its reported stake to 3.11 million shares worth about $66.4 million. The move followed a string of NASA-related wins. In June, Intuitive Machines secured a contract worth up to $148.3 million to deliver a production-line-qualified Nova-C lunar lander by 2028. It also became prime contractor for NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera and South Korea’s ShadowCam programs in May, expanding its role in lunar mapping, navigation and mission operations.

Additionally, Tema added 1.62 million RKLB shares, taking its reported stake to 1.62 million shares worth nearly $164.9 million, the largest of the three positions by market value. Rocket Lab is building a broader space platform spanning launches, spacecraft manufacturing and satellite services. Its recent $8 billion acquisition of Iridium Communications would add recurring connectivity revenue, while its recent Victus Haze mission for the U.S. Space Force demonstrated a rapid-launch capability, with liftoff just 16 hours and 42 minutes after notice.

Tema Builds $89M ASTS Stake

Tema also added just over 1 million AST SpaceMobile shares, lifting its reported position to about 1 million shares worth $89.2 million. The company is preparing its next satellite deployment after BlueBird 11 arrived at Cape Canaveral. BlueBirds 12 and 13 are expected to follow ahead of a Falcon 9 launch planned for the first half of August.

The satellites will expand AST SpaceMobile’s direct-to-device broadband network, which can deliver voice, data and video services to standard smartphones. The company expects the next-gen BlueBirds to offer nearly twice the peak download speeds of its first operational satellites.

How Do Retail Traders Feel About SPCX, ASTS, RKLB, LUNR?

On Stocktwits, sentiment for SPCX, RKLB, LUNR and ASTS was 'bearish'. Message volume was 'extremely low' for SPCX, 'low' for RKLB and ASTS, and 'normal' for LUNR. 

Over the past year, RKLB surged 107%, ASTS gained 67% and LUNR climbed 44%. 

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