Moreover, unlike SpaceX, they’re not trading at totally bonkers valuations. Here are two that I think are worth considering above the rocket and satellite giant today.

Future agentic AI winner?

Up 181%, Raspberry Pi (LSE:RPI) is the best-performing FTSE 250 stock year to date.

The company makes low-cost computer boards and semiconductors, both of which are hot right now. But news earlier this year that computing enthusiasts were using Raspberry Pis to run OpenClaw, the AI agent that can do tasks on devices, sent the stock soaring.

The firm says it hasn’t seen a huge uptick in demand from agentic AI yet. But management is excited because it views this as a sign of things to come from industrial customers, setting it up for potentially explosive AI-related growth over the next decade.

We have the opportunity to become the default embedded host for agentic AI…Often what we find is that our enthusiast customer base are ahead of the game. The things our enthusiasts are doing now…our industrial customers…will be doing in 3, 4, 5 years’ time.
CEO Eben Upton.

Raspberry Pi’s current valuation is a bit too fruity for my liking, especially when the global memory chip shortage could last well into 2027, thereby threatening growth. But next to loss-making SpaceX, the stock looks infinitely better value.

Investors considering this stock should brace themselves for volatility (it’s down 18% in two weeks). And the high starting valuation puts it in the high-risk, high-reward category.

Personally, I’m waiting for a better entry point. But I like it over SpaceX, as things stand.

Space start-ups

Next, we have Seraphim Space Investment Trust (LSE:SSIT). This niche fund has stakes in space-tech firms, which have enjoyed a huge increase in demand due to SpaceX’s IPO.

The share price is up 60% in a year, sealing the trust a spot in the mid-cap index.

So why do I like this one? Well, many of the holdings are no longer pre-revenue start-ups. Top holding ICEYE — a radar satellite imaging company — was recently valued at €10bn, with a €1.5bn order backlog and seven European governments as customers.

The increase in European defence spend should benefit other holdings, while HawkEye 360 and Voyager Technologies have listed across the pond.

We remain confident that NAV [net asset value] will continue to appreciate, supported by strong defence tailwinds and a structural shift in investor appetite, further catalysed by the anticipated SpaceX IPO, which could prove transformational, by being a catalyst for generating billions of new capital into the market. Against this backdrop, the SSIT portfolio remains uniquely well positioned.
June 2026.

The fact that the portfolio is invested in one overarching theme adds risk, as does a 50% weighting towards ICEYE. If something went awry with that holding, the trust could quickly lose value.

But after dipping 26% in less than a month, the stock looks more attractive. Taking a five-year view, I’m optimistic this trust will do well as the global space sector takes off.

Should you invest £5,000 in Raspberry Pi Plc right now?

When investing expert Mark Rogers and his team have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the flagship Twelfth Magpie Share Advisor newsletter he has run for nearly a decade has provided thousands of paying members with top stock recommendations from the UK and US markets.

And right now, Mark thinks there are 6 standout stocks that investors should consider buying. Want to see if Raspberry Pi Plc made the list?

Ben McPoland has no position in any of the companies mentioned.

The post 2 top FTSE 250 growth stocks I prefer over SpaceX today appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

Who’s going to ‘go away in May’ when tech stocks are soaring and SpaceX is about to launch the biggest IPO in history? Here are three ways investors could get a piece of the action.

Scottish Mortgage

Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust (LSE: SMT) has long been an ISA favourite, and it’s held SpaceX stock for a lengthy period. With the book value of SpaceX climbing over the years, it now makes up 18% of the entire portfolio.

The IPO will finally put a market valuation on the stock — and I’m 50/50 on which way I think it might go. Most of the IPOs I’ve watched have fallen in value in the first year of trading.

SpaceX does weight the trust’s assets quite heavily, so might we see the holding trimmed for a bit of balance? The shares will be subject to some lock-up restrictions. But Scottish Mortgage recently said “We will continue to assess concentration and portfolio construction as we would with any listed holding“. So… that’s a maybe?

Polar Capital

Polar Capital Technology Trust (LSE: PCT) has been a popular Stocks and Shares ISA buy of late too. It might not hold space stocks directly. But it is keyed firmly to the thing that’s really driving SpaceX (and Tesla, and others). That’s AI, and it firmly backs Elon Musk’s talk of launching huge numbers of orbiting AI data centres.

The enthusiasm is not lacking. But how far away such an achievement might lie, even if it does work out as feasible and cost-effective, remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, Polar Capital is especially big in semiconductor makers. Nvidia is its number one holding, with Taiwan Semiconductor, Broadcom, Advanced Micro Devices, and Samsung Electronics all among the trust’s top 10 holdings. And there’s plenty of earthly demand for those.

Seraphim Space

How is investor enthusiasm for pure space research? We need look no further than Seraphim Space Investment Trust (LSE: SSIT) to see. Its 2026 share price spike might have fallen back a bit. But we still see a 77% gain so far this year.

The company says: “Our entrepreneurs see the infinite possibilities of space and transform those possibilities into game changing companies. Our portfolio companies are at the frontier of tomorrow shaping a better future on Earth.”

They’re mostly companies I’ve never heard of, I have to say — Iceye, D-Orbit, HawkEye360, and many more. So I’d have to dig fairly deeply into them before I’d consider investing. But, even though this investment trust is 100% invested in space, I do see diversification among different technologies and services.

Eyes in space, feet on the ground

It’s hard to get a handle on how soon today’s space exploration challenges might turn into the hoped-for big profits of the future. And space failures could mean investment flops. These are risky picks.

I rate Scottish Mortgage as probably the least risky, as it also holds down-to-earth stocks like Moderna and MercadoLibre. But for investors convinced the sky isn’t the limit, all three might be worth considering for a small portion of a Stocks and Shares ISA.

Should you invest £5,000 in Polar Capital Technology Trust Plc right now?

When investing expert Mark Rogers and his team have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the flagship Twelfth Magpie Share Advisor newsletter he has run for nearly a decade has provided thousands of paying members with top stock recommendations from the UK and US markets.

And right now, Mark thinks there are 6 standout stocks that investors should consider buying. Want to see if Polar Capital Technology Trust Plc made the list?

Alan Oscroft owns shares in Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust.

The post 3 possible ways to get a Stocks and Shares ISA into the new space age appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

Just take the last month. After soaring to a record closing high of 273p on 22 May, the trust crashed back to earth, hitting 176p on Friday (5 June). Now though, it has rebounded to 215p after surging 15% today (9 June).

What’s going on? And is the stock worth considering today?

A meaty uplift

Launched in 2021, Seraphim Space is an investment trust focused on the space technology sector. Its portfolio holdings span satellite communications, earth observation, defence, and space infrastructure.

The last few months have been eventful, to say the least as investors have piled into the sector ahead of the historic SpaceX IPO (happening later this week). This has turbocharged interest in the trust, propelling it into the FTSE 250 (from 19 June).

Joining the FTSE 250 reflects not only the company’s progress, but the transition of space from a specialist technology theme into a core pillar of global infrastructure. Space has become foundational to how nations operate, compete and secure their future.
CEO Mark Boggett.

On top of this, we got news today that its largest holding, ICEYE, is raising €450m in a new financing round that values it at more than €10bn. This is a Finnish satellite radar imaging specialist that has supplied sovereign intelligence capabilities to seven European governments so far.

The implied uplift in Seraphim’s stake is approximately £202m, a 102% increase, or the equivalent of an increase in NAV per share of 73p. That’s a meaty elevation for a trust with a £665m market cap.

Portfolio progress

The encouraging thing here is that it proves the people running the trust can spot hidden gems across the space start-up ecosystem. Some of these holdings are now scaling rapidly.

For instance, in 2025, ICEYE reported over €100m in EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) on more than €250m in revenue. That’s a strong margin, while the order backlog is now worth over €1.5bn.

Meanwhile, space analytics firm HawkEye recently listed on the Nasdaq at a $2.42bn valuation. It also has a surging backlog, and was the trust’s third-largest position in March, accounting for 9.8% of assets.

Finally, York Space Systems has agreed to acquire ALL.SPACE, the second-largest holding. So there’s a lot going on right now in the portfolio.

Is this stock still worth bothering with?

The biggest risk here is over-concentration, given that ICEYE now makes up north of 50% of assets. That can turbocharge returns when things are going well, but it can also work in reverse (as investors in 3i Group have recently discovered).

On the other hand, the share price is still down 22% since the end of May. This puts the market cap closer to the assumed underlying NAV, which will be revised upwards due to the ICEYE uplift when the official figures are published in October.

For long-term investors who are bullish on the booming global space sector, I think the trust’s still worth a look. But this is a volatile vehicle and definitely in the high-reward-but-high-risk camp.

Should you invest £5,000 in Seraphim Space Investment Trust Plc right now?

When investing expert Mark Rogers and his team have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the flagship Twelfth Magpie Share Advisor newsletter he has run for nearly a decade has provided thousands of paying members with top stock recommendations from the UK and US markets.

And right now, Mark thinks there are 6 standout stocks that investors should consider buying. Want to see if Seraphim Space Investment Trust Plc made the list?

Ben McPoland owns shares in 3i Group.

The post Meet the ex-penny stock up 15% today and entering the FTSE 250 appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

However, there are plenty of examples of rapidly-growing stocks that run out of steam. Could Seraphim be one of them? Or is its share price likely to blast off into orbit? Let’s discuss.

Unfamiliar names

With the SpaceX IPO less than two weeks away, there’s currently plenty of interest in the sector. But Seraphim doesn’t have a stake in Elon Musk’s business. In fact, the “world’s first SpaceTech investment company” has positions in companies that, I suspect, are probably only familiar to those who work in the industry. And because they are unlisted without a ready market for their shares, they can be difficult to value.

As of 31 March, the trust’s largest shareholding, ICEYE, accounted for 47.1% of its net asset value. Impressively, it “operates the world’s first and largest constellation of miniaturised satellites that use radar to image the earth both during day and night, even through cloud.”

Our entrepreneurs see the infinite possibilities of Space and transform those possibilities into game changing companies. Our portfolio companies are at the frontier of tomorrow shaping a better future on Earth.

Company website

A finger in many pies

One of the attractions of an investment trust is that it’s possible to have exposure to a large number of companies through a single shareholding. This helps spread risk.

However, Seraphim is 100% exposed to a niche sector that’s in its relative infancy. It’s unclear who the winners and losers might be. Having said that, there’s enormous potential. The trust’s impressive track record of growing its net asset value (NAV) suggests its fund manager is good at spotting potential.

And the narrowing of the discount at which Seraphim’s stock trades to its NAV is a good indicator of investor confidence. In fact, towards the end of May, the stock was trading at a premium of over 50%.

What’s going on?

However, the trust’s share price has fallen over 30% since 22 May, a couple of weeks before it published its latest results. This sudden drop makes me nervous even though there’s no apparent reason for the fall. After a stellar run, shareholders have been brought down to earth with a bump.

But rather than be a cause for concern, this could be an indication that the City has recognised that Seraphim’s share price had become disconnected from the value of its underlying investments. Indeed, the trust’s market cap is now almost the same as its latest (31 March) portfolio valuation.

I like the idea of investing in the space industry. With its large position in SpaceX, it’s one of the reasons why I have a stake in Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust. And I can see the potential of some of Seraphim’s portfolio companies. But the rapid share price movement makes me nervous. I would like to see a period of calm before revisiting the investment case. Until then, I think there are lots of other exciting opportunities to consider.

Should you invest £5,000 in Seraphim Space Investment Trust Plc right now?

When investing expert Mark Rogers and his team have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the flagship Twelfth Magpie Share Advisor newsletter he has run for nearly a decade has provided thousands of paying members with top stock recommendations from the UK and US markets.

And right now, Mark thinks there are 6 standout stocks that investors should consider buying. Want to see if Seraphim Space Investment Trust Plc made the list?

James Beard owns shares in Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust plc.

The post Just 3 years ago, this was a penny stock. Now look at it! appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

The fact that’s it’s up 809% since July 2023 clearly isn’t deterring these investors. For the record, that’s better than Nvidia (430%) and Rolls-Royce (670%) over this time frame.

There aren’t many UK shares — big or small — that can hold a candle to that type of performance. Let’s take a closer look at this surging stock to see what has got investors so excited.

Does it own any SpaceX shares?

As might be obvious, this is an investment trust focused on the space sector. It became the world’s first listed SpaceTech fund upon going public in 2021.

Seraphim Space Investment Trust targets early and growth stage SpaceTech companies, that have the potential to dominate globally and help tackle humanity’s most pressing challenges like climate change, communications, mobility and global security.
Seraphim Space.

Now, the way this £891m fund has performed, you’d be forgiven for thinking that it has a stake in SpaceX. Elon Musk’s rocket pioneer is gearing up for a potentially record-breaking stock market debut in a few weeks’ time.

However, it doesn’t own any SpaceX. Instead, it has chunky stakes in ICEYE (a radar satellite firm specialising in Earth observation), ALL.SPACE (satellite communication terminals), D-Orbit (space logistics), and HawkEye 360 (satellite intelligence).

ICEYE, the largest holding, is heavily integrated into the European defence and intelligence sector. Via a joint venture with defence giant Rheinmetall, it’s supplying reconnaissance data to the German Armed Forces.

But ICEYE also recently partnered with the Jane Goodall Institute to provide near real-time detection of illegal logging and mining in the Congo Basin and Tanzania.

Meanwhile, ALL.SPACE is being acquired by York Space Systems for $355m. Given this firm accounted for 15.9% of Seraphim’s net asset value (NAV), the trust should be getting a nice little cash boost soon.

Finally, HawkEye 360 is preparing for an IPO at a valuation of about $2.84bn.

Is this surging stock still worth a look?

As we can see then, the portfolio has been performing well. And the shares could do even better in the months ahead with the SpaceX IPO coming up.

A successful [SpaceX] listing could act as a bellwether for large technology and space-related IPOs, lifting broader investor appetite for the sector.
Seraphim Space.

I’ve been bullish on this trust for quite a while now (I first highlighted it when it was a 29p penny stock in July 2023). But the NAV has only gone from £222m at the end of 2022 to £337.5m in December 2025. Or from 92.74p to 142.3p.

But the current share price is 238p, implying a 63% premium to the last official NAV calculation. In other words, the stock might have got ahead of itself after basically doubling year to date.

Therefore, I think investors should consider avoiding this for now (or at least keeping it as a smaller speculative position). It may well keep going higher as SpaceX excitement builds, but there’s a large NAV premium to bear in mind.

If the SpaceX IPO bombs, or there’s a sharp market downturn, Seraphim Space could quickly lose altitude.

Ben McPoland has positions in Nvidia and Rolls-Royce. The Twelfth Magpie has recommended AJ Bell, Nvidia, and Rolls-Royce. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor and Hidden Winners.

The post Investors on AJ Bell are buying this UK stock that’s up 809% and beating Rolls-Royce appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

Wait until you see the returns from a certain growth-focused investment trust though. Believe it or not, this trust’s delivered around 16 times the return of the blue-chip index.

This investment trust’s in another galaxy

I’m referring to Seraphim Space Investment Trust (LSE: SSIT). It invests in early and growth stage space technology companies that are providing solutions in areas such as communications, climate change, mobility, and global security.

This year, its share price is up about 64%. So it’s left the FTSE 100 behind on the launchpad.

One driver of the outsized gains here has been excitement around SpaceX’s upcoming Initial Public Offering (IPO), which is looking like it will be the largest of all time. This has helped investors become more aware of space’s investment potential (analysts at McKinsey believe that it could be a $1.8trn market by 2035).

Another is the growing link between the defence industry (which is very much in focus right now given the conflict in the Middle East) and the space industry. Today, space is considered a critical defence domain as it can play a major role in intelligence, surveillance, navigation, and communications.

Additionally, monthly newsletters from the trust have revealed some positive developments. For example, the March newsletter, posted on 9 April, revealed that the trust’s largest holding, ICEYE, enjoyed €250m in 2025 revenue and had a backlog of €1.5bn at the end of the year.

So overall, there have been a number of share price drivers. Combined, they’ve put a rocket under the stock.

Is there an investment opportunity here?

Is this trust worth considering for a Stocks and Shares ISA or Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) portfolio today? Potentially.

It’s not a product I’d take a massive position in because it’s quite risky. Not only is space a nascent industry today but the trust invests in early stage, unlisted companies (which tend to be high up on the risk spectrum).

On top of this, there’s some portfolio concentration risk. That holding I mentioned above, ICEYE, represented almost 40% of the portfolio at the end of 2025, so that’s an issue.

But it could potentially be an interesting non-core holding. Given its niche focus, it could complement core holdings such as index trackers and blue-chip stocks.

There are certainly some interesting companies in the trust’s portfolio. Examples here include ALL.SPACE, which specialises in satellite connectivity for defence and government, and D-Orbit, a leader in the fast-growing space logistics market.

All things considered, I believe it’s worth a look as a speculative holding. I’d keep the position small though and manage risk carefully.

The post This red-hot investment trust has delivered 16 times the return of the FTSE 100 in 2026 appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

Showing this figure isn’t just science fiction, we had two developments last week. First, there was NASA’s successful Artemis II rocket launch that sent humans towards the Moon for the first time in over 50 years. Second, industry juggernaut SpaceX has reportedly filed to go public at a potential valuation of $1.75trn.

Here are three stocks to consider buying for exposure to the booming space economy.

SpaceTech fund

Let’s start with Seraphim Space Investment Trust (LSE:SSIT). This £365m trust invests in earlier-stage growth companies involved with space technology (SpaceTech).

The stock’s had an amazing run, going from 51p to above 150p in just 12 months.

However, this hasn’t been driven by mere hype, but actual tangible progress made by its portfolio companies. In March, it announced a 20% jump in its net asset value (NAV), or an increase of £56.4m.  

For example, Finnish microsatellite firm ICEYE secured a massive €1.7bn space reconnaissance contract from the German government alongside its partner, defence giant Rheinmetall. ALL.SPACE, HawkEye 360, and D-Orbit also received meaningful valuation uplifts.

It’s worth noting that seven of the trust’s top 10 holdings expect to report EBITDA profitability in 2026. So these are far from starry-eyed start-ups in garages.

The biggest risk would be Europe turning off the funding tap. However, while this can’t be ruled out, I think President Trump threatening to leave NATO makes it even more likely that Europe spends hundreds of billions building out its own space and defence capabilities.

If so, then many of the key holdings here should benefit massively. As I write, the trust’s trading at a 5% premium to NAV, suggesting that its valuation is far from bonkers.

European blue chip

Next, we have Airbus (ENXT:AIR), whose share price is down roughly 22% since January.

While primarily a maker of passenger jets, Airbus also has a Defence and Space division. Last year, revenue here increased 11% year on year to €13.4bn, while order intake surged to a record €17.7bn.

Airbus built the European Service Module for NASA’s Artemis programme, providing power and life support for the Orion spacecraft heading to the Moon.  

Rather than a pureplay space stock, Airbus is a stable, profitable giant with a massive backlog of 8,754 commercial aircraft. Supply chain shortages could result in production delays, but the forward price-to-earnings multiple of 22 looks reasonable to me.

AIM-listed stock

Returning to SpaceX, let’s end with Filtronic (LSE:FTC). This is a small-ish UK company with a £435m market-cap that designs and manufactures advanced radio frequency (RF) solutions for the space, aerospace and defence, and telecoms markets.

A deal signed with SpaceX to support SpaceX’s Starlink satellite constellation has been transformative. Revenue ballooned from £16.3m in 2023 to £56.3m last year.

The flip side to this is that SpaceX now makes up the vast bulk of revenue, which adds concentration risk. However, it’s worth noting that Filtronic is having success diversifying revenue streams.

For example, last week it was selected by a major European defence firm to provide it with components, building on an $8m contract won with the US army the week before.

The post 3 top space stocks to consider buying for an ISA in April appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

Still, a one-year return of 44% is not to be sniffed at — it’s more than double the Footsie’s total return of about 20%. And the five-year share price chart is still a thing of beauty.

Spacetech trust

But there’s an under-the-radar UK stock that has done much better over the past 12 months. Meet Seraphim Space Investment Trust (LSE:SSIT), which has rocketed from 55p to 137p in this time (a 149% gain).

As suggested by the name, this investment trust focuses on the space sector. Predominantly this is early and growth-stage firms in space technology, which is widely pegged as a multi-trillion-dollar market in the making. We’re talking rockets, satellite manufacturing and communications, earth observation, and so on.

Spacetech has both commercial and sovereign defence applications, including space-based reconnaissance. And the European defence boom has helped propel the trust in recent years (it’s up more than 400% since June 2023).

European governments, led by Germany, have moved decisively from policy intent to implementation as they seek to reduce longstanding reliance on the US for critical defence capabilities…This continues to produce good tailwinds for [our]portfolio.
Seraphim Space Investment Trust

Strong action

At the end of 2025, the portfolio contained 23 companies and one fund investment valued at £331.6m (up from £259.8m in June 2025). Meanwhile, net asset value (NAV) per share increased by 20.1% to 142.3p in the last six months of 2025.

It ended the year with £22.1m in cash and no debt. And a milestone was reached as the fair value of its private portfolio (after disposals) exceeded 200% of cost for the first time since launch in July 2021.

Inevitably, not all holdings in a fund like this will succeed. The aim is for a handful to really take off and become market leaders, driving the trust’s NAV higher for years to come.

For a successful example of this, look at 3i Group from the FTSE 100. Its stock has more than doubled in five years due to the extraordinary rise of Action, the Dutch discount retailer in which it has a majority stake.

Seraphim Space Investment Trust’s version of Action appears to be ICEYE, a Finnish microsatellite company that uses radar to see through clouds, smoke, and even total darkness.

Needless to say, that’s pretty handy technology for military purposes, leading German defence giant Rheinmetall to join forces with ICEYE. This joint venture secured a massive €1.7bn contract with the German armed forces last year, and is currently helping Ukraine.

However, much like 3i Group with Action, a chunky 39% stake in ICEYE risks becoming a concentration problem. For example, it could fall out with Rheinmetall, leading to a dissolution of the venture.

Massive booming market

Looking ahead, the planned blockbuster SpaceX IPO later this year is likely to whet venture capitalists’ appetite for the next SpaceX-style start-ups. So the trust’s portfolio holdings should remain well-funded.

Weighing things up, I think the trust is worth considering, at least as a smallish holding in a diversified portfolio. At 137p, it’s trading slightly below the latest NAV per share calculation.

The post Meet the UK stock under £1.50 smashing Rolls-Royce shares over the past year appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

However, its shares trade at a 20% discount to the fund’s net asset value. Is this a buying opportunity to consider, or is it a sign that investors remain to be convinced? Let’s see.

The first of its kind

The Seraphim Space Investment Trust (LSE:SSIT) describes itself as the “most prolific” SpaceTech investor globally. At 30 September 2025, it valued its portfolio at £284m. However, things are moving fast. During the last quarter of 2025, it reported that its top four holdings had increased in value by £69m.

But therein lies a problem. It’s difficult valuing companies whose shares are not publicly traded.

Most of the trust’s holdings are in private businesses, all of which are viewed as having the potential to “dominate globally and are category leaders with first mover advantages in areas such as global security, cybersecurity, food security, climate change and sustainability”.

Valuations are usually based on the latest funding round, which is standard practice in the industry.

The trust categorises its investments as either unicorns (valued over $1bn), soonicorns, minicorns, or seedcorns. Many of these are start-ups. And sometimes, there can be lots of hype surrounding these types of companies, which can lead to optimistic valuations and plenty of risk.

This probably explains why the trust’s shares are trading at a 20% discount (at 20 February) to its net asset value. I suspect investors are being a little cautious. But the gap’s starting to close. For a short while after its IPO in July 2021, the stock traded at a premium.

Huge growth

This could be a sign that the space business is becoming increasingly fashionable.

Indeed, McKinsey & Company forecasts that the global space economy will be worth $1.8trn by 2035, with ‘reach’ applications (those helping companies across a wide range of industries to generate more revenue) outperforming ‘backbone’ solutions (for example, satellites, launchers, and GPS).

Diversification’s key

Personally, I’m excited by the possibilities of space. And by taking a position in Seraphim Space Investment Trust, it’s possible to have exposure to a number of companies in different countries operating in a variety of sub-sectors, which helps spread risk.

For example, the trust’s top three holdings are based in Finland, Italy and the UK. And they comprise the owner of the world’s first and largest constellation of miniaturised satellites, the market leader in space logistics, and a developer of an antenna capable of connecting to any satellite in any constellation in any orbit.

Inevitably, with many companies in their infancy, not all will succeed. But it only takes a few to do well and the trust’s share price could take off.

I also like the fact that the trust’s most recently published balance sheet — at 30 June 2025 – shows no debt. And it had £21.5m of cash.

For these reasons, I think it’s a great stock to consider.

The post At a 20% discount, is this under-the-radar UK stock about to blast off? appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

Exposure to leading space companies

The stock I’m talking about is the Seraphim Space Investment Trust (LSE: SSIT). It invests in early and growth stage space technology (spacetech) companies that are trying to solve challenges associated with communications (eg, satellite broadband), climate change, mobility, and global security.

At present, the investment trust trades for £1.44 a share. That means that a £1,000 investment buys roughly 694 shares (ignoring trading commissions).

What’s behind the share price surge?

Why has this investment trust done so well recently? A few reasons.

One is that the space industry is really coming into focus as a result of the potential initial public offering (IPO) of Elon Musk’s space company SpaceX later this year. This event has got investors looking at other ways to play the theme.

I suspect this IPO has also increased awareness of how large the space industry could potentially be in the future. According to analysts at Morgan Stanley, it could be generating annual revenues of more than $1trn by 2040, up from around $350bn in 2020.

Another reason is that defence stocks have surged amid the high level of geopolitical instability. Looking ahead, space technology is likely to play a major role in defence.

Additionally, there has been some interesting portfolio activity recently. For example, in December, its largest portfolio holding, ICEYE – a satellite company that offers persistent, real-time Earth observation for 24/7 tactical decision-making in any condition/weather – signed a €1.7bn contract with German defence powerhouse Rheinmetall to provide space-based reconnaissance data.

That’s a major deal (and shows how space and defence are closely related). And it sent shares in the investment trust up around 20% at the time.

The trust’s share price also got a bump earlier this week after the company released its January 2026 newsletter. Here, it noted that private space funding hit a record $12.4bn in 2025, up 48% on 2024.

It also said that global investment in space technology is set to accelerate in 2026. This acceleration is set to be fuelled by defence-linked satellites, expanded launch capacity, and AI applications in orbit.

An investment opportunity to consider?

Is this investment trust worth considering as a growth play for an ISA or SIPP today? I think so, assuming an investor has a high tolerance for risk and a long-term investment horizon.

It’s not a product I’d load up on. That’s because this industry is still in its infancy and many of the companies it has invested in are quite speculative from an investment perspective.

There’s also some portfolio concentration risk. At present, ICEYE represents nearly 40% of the portfolio so if this company experiences some kind of setback, the investment trust could be impacted significantly.

All things considered, however, I think it has a lot of potential.

The post £1,000 buys 694 shares in this red-hot UK space stock that’s smashing the FTSE 100 index appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.