Morgan Stanley flags five miners at core of space value chain

With a potential IPO of SpaceX drawing closer, investors are increasingly turning their attention to the broader space economy and the companies positioned to benefit from its rapid expansion.

Morgan Stanley’s global research team has mapped out this opportunity through its “Space 60” framework, identifying a cross-sector ecosystem of companies that will underpin the industry’s growth.

“Space is back in a big way,” equity analyst Adam Jonas wrote in an April 12 client note, citing “a combination of scientific advancements, geopolitics and economics” that have reignited investor attention to the space theme. The SpaceX IPO is reportedly targeting a valuation upwards of $2 trillion — potentially the largest in history.

To that end, the Morgan Stanley team identified a diverse set of critical segments that could all play a foundational role in enabling everything from rocket production to orbital infrastructure and data transmission:

Sitting at the very start of this value chain is mining — the sector supplying crucial raw materials that make the entire space economy possible.

“All space hardware begins in the ground,” Jonas wrote. “A single satellite can use dozens of specialty metals across structural, power, thermal and communication systems.”

Five miners

Within this theme, the bank flagged five North America-based companies deemed to be crucial to the buildout of space infrastructure: MP Materials (NYSE: MP), Almonty Industries (NASDAQ: ALM), Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX), Alcoa (NYSE: AA) and Teck Resources (TSX: TECK.A/TECK.B).

Two of the miners (Freeport and Teck) are major suppliers of copper, which, due to its exceptional thermal conductivity, is used in high-performance rocket engines. The Canadian-based Teck is also a producer of gallium used in radar systems.

MP Materials is the only US-based producer of rare earth elements, which are used to make high-performance magnets in satellite, rover and launch systems. Almonty, with operations in Europe and South Korea, is the biggest tungsten miner outside China. Tungsten is used in radiation shielding and high-temperature environments.

Pittsburgh-based Alcoa is a global leader in aluminum, the backbone of most spacecraft structures including rockets, satellites and spacecraft.