From Ian Cooper, Author Trigger Point Trade Alerts

Jeff Bezos Heading to Space by July 20

We may be one giant leap closer to space tourism.

That is, if human test flights go as planned.

On July 20, Jeff Bezos will fly to space on the first-crewed flight of New Shepard.

“If all goes according to plan, Bezos — the world’s richest person with a net worth of $187 billion — will be the first of the billionaire space tycoons to experience a ride aboard the rocket technology that he’s poured millions into developing. Not even Elon Musk, whose SpaceX builds rockets powerful enough to enter orbit around Earth, has announced plans to travel to space aboard one of his companies’ human-worthy crew capsules,” says CNN.

There’s also no shortage of demand.

According to analysts at Cowen, “39% of people with a net worth of more than $5 million are interested in paying at least $250,000 for a flight.” In addition, by 2040, Morgan Stanley believes the space tourism industry could be worth about $1 trillion.

In addition, Virgin Galactic already has 600 customers ready to blast off at $250,000 a ticket. All for a 90-minute trip that will take them about 60 miles above the Earth. Plus, if we see success, we could be looking at a multi-trillion-dollar industry.

As reported by CBS, “Morgan Stanley says that by 2040, the market for space-related products and services will reach $1.1 trillion — an estimate that jibes with forecasts from Goldman Sachs and Bank of America. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is even more bullish, last fall projecting what it calls the space economy to reach $1.5 trillion within the next two decades.

While investors can always buy shares of Virgin Galactic (SPCE), another top bet is the Ark Space Exploration ETF, which trades under the ticker ARKX.  It includes companies “leading, enabling, or benefitting from technologically enabled products and/or services that occur beyond the surface of the Earth,” according to a filing with the US SEC.

Ian Cooper