Meet the 9 Vanguard ETFs That Are Buying SpaceX Stock in Droves. Here's My Top Pick of the Bunch.

Space Exploration Technologies (NASDAQ: SPCX) had its initial public offering (IPO) on June 12 and was fast-tracked into the Nasdaq-100 on July 7. But SpaceX won't be added to the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) or to index funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that track the S&P 500 until at least a year after its IPO. That means that SpaceX is still not a holding in Vanguard's largest ETF by net assets: the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO).

However, there are plenty of major Vanguard ETFs that don't use the S&P 500 as a benchmark. Here's how much SpaceX stock they are buying and what investors should expect their SpaceX positions to look like in the coming months.

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$6.1 billion in SpaceX stock

The wait is over. Vanguard finally updated its ETF holdings as of June 30. Even though that period marks less than three weeks after SpaceX's IPO, several of Vanguard's largest ETFs were already gobbling up SpaceX.

After digging through Vanguard's 48 passively managed equity ETFs, these are the ones that bought SpaceX stock as of June 30 (to the best of my knowledge):

Data source: Vanguard. 1. Market value as of June 30, 2026. 2. Hypothetical eventual percentage of funds based on Meta Platforms' weighting in each fund.

Investors can expect SpaceX's weighting in these ETFs to increase in line with the SpaceX shares available for trading on the Nasdaq -- known as the float. For the time being, SpaceX isn't weighted in these ETFs based on its market cap but rather on a float-adjusted weighting to account for the vast majority of SpaceX shares that are held by insiders and restricted from trading.

However, 20% of Early Release Eligible Shares will be unlocked on Aug. 6. A total of 55% of Early Release Eligible Shares could be unlocked before the end of October.

Investors can expect ETFs to gradually increase their SpaceX holdings as its float increases. Eventually, SpaceX will be weighted by its market cap rather than its float. With a market cap of $1.5 trillion at the time of this writing, SpaceX currently has roughly the same market cap as Meta Platforms.

The table's Hypothetical Eventual Percentage of Funds column uses Meta as a proxy for weighting SpaceX in each fund. It shows Meta's current weighting in each fund and, therefore, roughly what SpaceX would be weighted once it is based on market cap rather than float.

On a percentage basis, the Vanguard Communication Services ETF has the largest SpaceX position -- making it the ETF's 13th-largest holding. Surprisingly, SpaceX is the No. 1 largest holding in the Vanguard Extended Market ETF. But that ETF tracks the S&P Completion Index, which includes mid- and small-cap equities. SpaceX may temporarily appear in that index due to its float-adjusted market cap, but investors should expect its weighting in the Vanguard Extended Market ETF to be 0% before the end of the year.

As you can see in the table, SpaceX was added to Russell 1000 funds because SpaceX is in that index, which doesn't have the same admission standards as the S&P 500. And it's also on track to be a major holding in the Vanguard Growth ETF, one of Vanguard's largest ETFs by net assets; the Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF; and the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF -- the second-largest Vanguard ETF by net assets, behind the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF. The Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF is so big that even a 0.14% position is worth over $3 billion -- giving the ETF roughly the same number of SpaceX shares as the other eight Vanguard ETFs combined.

The Vanguard World Stock ETF holds the smallest SpaceX weighting because it includes more than 10,000 stocks from developed and emerging markets. Even if SpaceX had Meta Platforms' weight in that ETF, it would still be a small position at just 1.1%.

An excellent ETF to buy and hold

There are plenty of ways to get exposure to SpaceX, such as buying the stock directly, selecting an ETF where SpaceX will soon become a top holding, like the Vanguard Communication Services ETF, low-cost growth ETFs, or general total U.S. or world stock market ETFs.

The dirt cheap 0.03% expense ratio and simplicity of the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF make it my favorite buy of the bunch. The ETF is very similar to the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, since the S&P 500 accounts for about 80% of the U.S. stock market. But I like the additional diversification that the Total Stock Market ETF provides.

The Total Stock Market ETF added SpaceX faster than an ETF that is tied to a rules-based index like the S&P 500. And it will probably add Anthropic and OpenAI within weeks of their IPOs.

All told, investors who want a smaller position in SpaceX may prefer the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF over the growth of sector-specific funds.

Daniel Foelber has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Meta Platforms, Vanguard Growth ETF, and Vanguard S&P 500 ETF. The Motley Fool recommends Nasdaq. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.