Missed Intuitive Cars? Buy Rocket Lab USA.

If you happened to own a share in the lunar exploration technology company Intuitive machines (MON -1.40%) before last wednesday then congrats! Your position is 77% more valuable now than it was then.

The band won a NASA contract (not the first) that could be worth as much as $4.8 billion, catapulting the stock. For perspective, Intuitive Machines did just $158 million in business over the past four reported quarters. With last week’s rally, its stock is now up 350% from its January low.

Of course, there is the problem. Such a big and quick win leaves no room for more advantages. That was certainly the case in February, when shares of Intuitive Machines rose even higher, only to end up giving most of the rally back. Even if a similar pullback isn’t in the cards this time around, it certainly feels like most of the gains are in the rearview mirror.

That’s not to say there aren’t other ways to tap into the world’s resurgent interest in space exploration and its willingness to let for-profit companies do the work. You just need to find another, less frothy investment opportunity.

If you feel that Intuitive Machines stock is too far out of reach right now, consider a stake Rocket Lab USA (RKLB 4.18%) instead. Here’s why.

Intuitive Machines stock is already in orbit

You are not misreading any of this. People i am returning to the moon and eventually beyond. Actually an unmanned craft made by Boeing it actually entered lunar orbit in 2022, setting the stage for a crewed mission expected sometime in 2025, with another scheduled for the following year.

However, these missions will be quite different from the Apollo program that ended in the early 1970s. The Apollo launches were largely a test to determine whether or not it was even possible to go to the Moon. This time, NASA is going big. While there, the government agency plans to lay the groundwork for more involved experiments, resource exploitation, and even eventual colonization.

This means that NASA will not only need to map the Moon in more detail, but will also need to send equipment and supplies there before astronauts set foot on the lunar surface. The Intuitive Machines contract makes it responsible for setting up the communications and navigation services these exploratory voyages will require.

As mentioned, however, this stock is probably too far gone to connect right now.

Rocket Lab USA is on the launch pad

However, communications is only a small part of the ever-growing industry of space exploration and orbital launch. Simply getting equipment and personnel off the planet in the first place is also major (and revenue-generating) work.

Enter Rocket Lab USA. As the name suggests, this company makes rockets used to provide launch services to companies that want to put small satellites into orbit. To date, the 52 launches of its reusable Electron rocket have carried 192 satellites into outer space. More are certainly on the way as the need for communication and data transmission options grows.

It belongs to this company Next rocket, however, that will change the game… for this, and its investors. Rocket Lab’s Neutron rocket is expected to make its first flight in the middle of next year, putting the company in the so-called medium-lift launch business, where it will compete directly with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

Remarkably, the Neutron rocket will not only be suitable for supporting manned missions to the Moon in addition to launching larger satellites, but will also be capable of carrying humans into space.

This is no small matter. Industry consultancy EuroConsult reckons the world will put an average of 1,700 satellites into Earth orbit each year by 2030. Research and consultancy firm Quilty Space puts the figure at over 2,000. Expressed in financial terms, Mordor Intelligence predicts that the global market for satellite launch services will grow at an annual rate of more than 21% until 2029, when it will be more than twice its current size.

These insights come with a major caveat, of course. I mean, they’re just best guesses about what an undeveloped market is waiting for. They could be turned off.

However, they are probably not wrong in scope. Almost every assumption of the analytical outfit is in the same basic stage. That’s why Rocket Lab’s more than 70% expected revenue growth this year, followed by next year’s projected top-line growth of around 40%, are both credible estimates. Better yet, that growth puts the company on track to break even sometime in 2027. Progress toward that goal could be enough to light a fire under the stock in the meantime.

The better option for your portfolio space speculation

Rocket Lab is still more on the speculative side of the continuum, of course. If you can’t handle the risk and likelihood of volatility, look for something more comfortable to own. Even if you are very risk tolerant, this stock should not serve as a core choice for your portfolio.

If you believe that rocket launches and space exploration are an inevitable part of our future — and you can handle the anxiety this ticker will induce from time to time — Rocket Lab USA stock is certainly a more palatable choice now than it is Intuitive Machines. following his recent hot run.