Owns two groups of companies, those in the space business and those building connective technology, as defined by a BlueStar index run by MarketVector.
UFOX, the Defiance Space and Connective Tech ETF, is a $875 million ETF whose main story is the orbital economy. It holds 22.6% of the money in ETFs carrying that story, 2nd of 44. Over the past year it returned +39.8%, against +16.8% for broad US ETFs. Figures to October 2, 2026; past performance, not a recommendation.
The narrative it carries
Its main narrative, at 0.7 of its exposure.
The orbital economy →
Launch, satellites and the space companies around SpaceX, now that it trades publicly.
The band is where this narrative’s level sits among the 22 this week. QUIET means less talked about, not falling.
| # | ETF | SHARE | ASSETS | 1 YEAR | COST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NASA | 39.2% | $1.33bn | – | – |
| 2 | UFOX | 22.5% | $875.0m | +39.8% | 0.30% |
| 3 | UFO | 19.7% | $535.8m | +15.2% | 0.75% |
| 4 | ARKX | 13.6% | $737.1m | +9.8% | 0.75% |
| 5 | WARP | 1.6% | $42.9m | – | 0.50% |
| 39 other ETFs | 3.4% |
Share is each ETF’s slice of the capital carrying this narrative. 1 year is market price total return; cost is the expense ratio. See all 44 ETFs on the narrative page →
Also carries: The AI compute core →
The chips, memory and data centers AI runs on, and the big technology companies that build and buy them.
FRI OCT 2MARKET PRICE TOTAL RETURN
| 1M | 3M | YTD | 1Y | 3Y* | 5Y* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UFOX | +10.5% | −0.6% | +38.5% | +39.8% | +42.2% | +20.6% |
| The orbital economyits narrative | +6.6% | −9.9% | +16.9% | +18.1% | +38.0% | +13.5% |
| The marketbroad US ETFs | +0.8% | +2.6% | +14.6% | +16.8% | +22.9% | +12.9% |
1M, 3M, 1Y, 3Y, 5Y: one month to five years. YTD: year to date. * A year, annualised. A dash means the ETF has not traded for the whole period. Since it started trading on March 5, 2019: +19.5% a year.
$10,000 invested March 31, 2019
Year by year
Total return in each calendar year; this year is year to date. A year appears only if UFOX traded for all of it.
Total return on the market price, with each distribution reinvested on its ex-date. Not the NAV return the issuer publishes; the two differ when the ETF trades above or below the value of its holdings. The narrative is the asset-weighted return of the unlevered ETFs that carry it. The market is the asset-weighted return of broad US index ETFs. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
FRI OCT 2MARKET PRICE TOTAL RETURN
How closely it moves
UFOX moves closely with the market. When the market has moved 1%, UFOX has tended to move 1.47%.
UFOX moves closely with the orbital economy. When the orbital economy has moved 1%, UFOX has tended to move 0.55%.
Weekly returns over 157 weeks. The narrative is measured without UFOX in it, so it is not compared with itself.
ETFs it moves most and least like
Correlation of weekly returns over the last 3 years, among unlevered ETFs StoryVector covers.
Risk
Cost against its peers
UFOX is the 1st cheapest of 11 ETFs in the orbital economy. The dashed line is the middle of the group, 0.75% a year.
How it is built
An unlevered long ETF that owns its holdings directly. It counts toward Share of Narrative.
Narrative exposure
Second narrative: read in the ETF’s own filing.
Common questions
What story is UFOX selling?
UFOX’s main story is the orbital economy, which covers launch, satellites and the space companies around SpaceX, now that it trades publicly. Its second is the AI compute core.
Which ETFs compete with UFOX?
The ETFs whose weekly returns move most like UFOX’s over the past 3 years are RSPT (0.92), VGT (0.91) and FTEC (0.91).
How much of the orbital economy does UFOX hold?
UFOX holds 22.6% of the money in ETFs carrying that story, 2nd of 44.
How has UFOX performed against its story?
Over the past year UFOX returned +39.8%, the ETFs carrying the orbital economy +18.1% and broad US ETFs +16.8%, to October 2, 2026. Its weekly returns have a correlation of 0.72 with the story. Past performance only.
Run an ETF in the orbital economy? StoryVector shows issuers where their ETFs stand against the closest rivals, every week.
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