I've been thinking about expanding our portfolio into the far reaches of the universe, states growth stock expert Jimmy Mengel, editor of The Crow's Nest.

Deep space travel is no longer the realm of science fiction: NASA has an ambitious plan to send a man to Mars by 2030.

We also have mega-billionaires like Tesla's Elon Musk (SpaceX) and Amazon's Jeff Bezos (Blue Origin) starting to drum up excitement for uncharted space exploration.

So today, we're buying our first space stock: Aerojet Rocketdyne (AJRD). AJRD is technology-based company that provides innovative solutions to customers in the aerospace and defense industries.

While Musk and Bezos are just getting going, Aerojet Rocketdyne has been perfecting rockets for decades.

Their products were at the heart of the Space Age and integral in US efforts to defend itself and allies during World War II.

Today, they are a leader of innovation and technological advancements in both space exploration and missile defense for the United States.

NASA gave them a contract to develop an engine to support the Space Launch System, which is designed to replace outdated space shuttles.

The contract runs through 2024 at $128 million per year. This is the rocket that will eventually be going to Mars.

They also signed a contract with Boeing (BA) valued at nearly $200 million that supports a new era of spaceflight - one that will carry humans to the International Space Station from American soil.

Aerojet Rocketdyne will be completing the design, development, qualification, certification and initial production of the Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 "Starliner".

They also just landed a brand new contract to design and deliver electrical power systems for the NASA Dream Chaser spacecraft, which will carry cargo to the International Space Station.

Aerojet Rocketdyne has a market cap of $1.26 billion. They had a solid first quarter, quadrupling their profit margin, boosting revenue 10.5% and turning a $0.06 net loss into a quarterly profit of $0.08 per share. Not too shabby.

The stock is looking favorable by analysts the cover the company as well; one analyst has put a one-year price target of $35 on the stock. The consensus is closer to the $26 to $28 range. We're buying Aerojet Rocketdyne under $22.

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