Two months, $2.6 billion: How NASA ETF turned SpaceX IPO access into a hot retail trade

Retail investors are rushing into the space investing trade ahead of the SpaceX IPO , and one ETF has cashed in on the excitement. Tema ETFs' Space Innovators ETF, which launched on March 30 and trades under the ticker symbol NASA , crossed $1 billion in assets in just 37 trading days, and by the end of this past trading week, had reached over $2.6 billion in assets. That rapid rise is due in part to retail investors hunting for exposure to SpaceX before it goes public. While SpaceX has taken an unusual approach to its offering, setting up access for retail investors through brokerage firms at a level atypical in new deals typically dominated by institutions, the NASA fund is another alternative for investors to gain access to Elon Musk 's rocket company. It already holds privately traded SpaceX shares directly. It is one of the few investment vehicles available to retail investors that does, with SpaceX currently representing around 7.5% of the fund. "If we're going to invest in space ... We have to offer exposure to SpaceX," said Maurits Pot, Tema ETFs founder and CEO on CNBC's "ETF Edge" on Wednesday. Pot said there is no plan to sell shares once the IPO occurs. "The IPO for us is simply a remarking of the position to market price," he said. Stock Chart Icon Stock chart icon NASA 1 M NASA isn't the only ETF that has access to SpaceX, though the options are limited. …