Space pure-plays sold with the risk-off tape — AST SpaceMobile off 6.1% and the launch/SATCOM complex down 4-6% — while defense-intel names CACI (+3.0%) and Northrop (+2.3%) caught the rotation.

CACI International (CACI) led the space basket, up 3.0% to $599.40, on rotation rather than a space-specific catalyst. The session was risk-off — a Financial Times report that OpenAI's annualized revenue was running near $50bn, below the roughly $70bn expected, cracked the AI trade, and yields and crude rose — which sent capital toward government-funded cash flows. CACI sits on the ground-segment and signals-intelligence rung of the space chain, and it led alongside the defense primes: Northrop Grumman (NOC) +2.3% to $484.48 on the launch and missile-defense rung, and L3Harris (LHX) +1.4% to $236.92. These are the defense-budget names, insulated from the commercial-space capex cycle that drove the rest of the basket lower.

The laggard was AST SpaceMobile (ASTS), down 6.1% to $56.93 — the direct-to-device satellite-connectivity chokepoint, and a pre-revenue, high-capex constellation that trades as the highest-beta expression of the vertical. It sold first as risk came off and rates rose, with no company news; its next print is Nov 9. STMicroelectronics' line (STM) fell 6.2% to $52.71 alongside the broad semiconductor selloff, a reminder that the space payload bill of materials is chip-levered.

The launch and SATCOM rungs were broadly red. Rocket Lab (RKLB) −4.9% to $68.40 and SpaceX (SPCX) −4.2% to $160.57 on the launch chokepoint; Viasat (VSAT) −4.9% to $67.41 and MDA Space (MDA) −5.8% to $27.33 on satellite communications and manufacturing; and Intuitive Machines (LUNR) −4.9% to $13.70 on lunar services. The earth-observation rung followed: Planet Labs (PL) −3.2% to $17.19 and BlackSky (BKSY) −3.2% to $21.16. The split was clean — government-funded prime up, commercial-capex pure-play down.

The next catalysts sit on the launch and supply rungs. Rocket Lab's Neutron reusable medium-lift maiden launch is targeted for the Q4 2026 window (estimated), the key near-term event for the launch chokepoint, and Satellogic's first AI-first constellation satellite launch is slated around Oct 31 (estimated). SpaceX's 180-day IPO lock-up fully expires Dec 9 (estimated). On policy, China's suspension of its germanium/gallium export ban to the US expires Nov 27 — bearing on the compound-semiconductor and optics supply for space payloads.