Are you looking for a really big investment win? Such trades require taking on above-average risk, of course, with no assurance of a major return being achieved. They also often need years to fully pan out. But they can certainly be worth it.

With that as the backdrop, here's a rundown of three prospects that could turn a $10,000 investment into a relative fortune. Just keep close tabs on them if you decide to take a swing. After all, these stocks offer tremendous upside potential specifically because their underlying companies' futures remain a bit murky.

Rocket Lab USA

Mankind has been deploying communication satellites since the late 1950s, and using them in earnest since the 1960s. Since the beginning of this century they've been used to offer broadband-based internet access to and from outer space.

And yet, we've only scratched the surface of the potential demand for satellite-based communications. The ongoing digitization of, well, everything is forcing enterprises and institutions to find more efficient ways to handle more and more information.

Enter Rocket Lab USA (RKLB 3.29%).

Just as the name suggests, Rocket Lab puts satellites into space. To date, more than 1,700 satellites are in orbit thanks to the company's technology. It's also already got 22 launches lined up for the year now underway, many of which will be carrying multiple satellites. More launches could be scheduled for this year in the meantime too. That may raise the 19% revenue growth rate analysts are currently anticipating for 2024.

This new era of space-based telecom is still in its infancy, however. Now that all these related technologies -- and the need for them -- have caught up with one another, industry research and consulting firm Quilty Space believes roughly 20,000 additional satellites will be put into orbit before the end of the decade.

And Rocket Lab USA's off to a great start winning this not-so-distant-future business. Although this year's growth outlook isn't exactly out of this world, the analyst community expects its top line to swell an impressive 72% next year.

That still won't be enough to push the company out of the red and into the black. It will push it in that direction, though, further fleshing out Rocket Lab's long-term potential as a solutions provider in the rapidly evolving orbital launch business.

Enphase Energy

It's been a tough year for solar power equipment maker Enphase Energy (ENPH 3.80%), and by extension, for Enphase Energy shareholders. Shares are down more than 60% since late 2022, with economic malaise undermining demand for new solar panel installations.

Don't mistake a short-term headwind as a fading long-term opportunity, however. Enphase should still have its day in the sun.

If you're not familiar, Enphase Energy makes solar power hardware. It doesn't make solar panels, though; panels are practically a commodity anymore. Rather, Enphase manufactures inverters that convert the sun's rays into usable electricity. Its IQ8 microinverters work as well in commercial settings as they do in residential, although its corresponding tech makes Enphase's equipment very well-suited for home use.

As was noted, last year was a toughie. Analysts believe the company will report full-year sales growth of nil when it posts its fourth-quarter results early next month. Earnings likely fell just a bit. The same analyst community expects the company's top and bottom lines to fall this year, with demand for solar power technology remaining under duress thanks to economic headwinds.

Take a step back and look at the bigger picture, though. Solar power is the heart of the energy industry's future. Even with its current weakness, the U.S. Energy Information Administration expects solar power to account for nearly all of the nation's power-production capacity this year and next, mirroring clean-energy initiatives in other parts of the world. Indeed, that projected 79 gigawatts' worth of additional power-generating installations should drive solar's share of domestic energy production from last year's 4% to 7% by the end of 2025, again mirroring worldwide demand.

Things are even more compelling for the longer haul. Mordor Intelligence says the global energy market will expand at an annualized pace of nearly 30% between now and 2029. Enphase stock's recent pullback is a means of stepping into that megatrend at a discount.

Nvidia

Last but not least, add Nvidia (NVDA 6.18%) to your list of stocks a $10,000 investment in today could grow into a fortune 10 years from now.

It's the biggest and best-grounded of the three companies in question. That's why its potential gains are also the smallest -- it's the lowest-risk prospect of the three. That doesn't mean it can't dish out serious gains in the foreseeable future, though.

The key to this growth is the advent of artificial intelligence.

While the world's done amazing things with the technology so far, we've only just begun to figure out how to commercialize AI. Precedence Research believes the worldwide AI market is going to swell from 2023's total of around $500 billion to more than $2.5 trillion in 2032. Nvidia's place in this market? It makes the hardware that makes AI possible. Estimates put its market share at around 90%.

The key to winning and keeping this commanding market share is Nvidia's purpose-built, turnkey AI platforms that leverage the company's well-proven video processing architecture. As it turns out, the same tech that makes for great graphics cards is ideally suited for AI applications as well.

In fact, Nvidia's latest GeForce RTX Super GPUs (graphics processing units) allow laptops to be generative AI workstations, while its HGX H200 platform unveiled in November of last year "delivers 141GB of memory at 4.8 terabytes per second, nearly double the capacity and 2.4x more bandwidth compared with its predecessor, the NVIDIA A100." It matters simply because more computing speed makes for more powerful AI applications.

The AI business's highest-growth days are likely in the past. The runway is still very long, however, with tons of opportunity ahead. And, with roughly three-fourths of the company's revenue now coming from AI solutions, the industry's impending growth bodes well for Nvidia.