- AST SpaceMobile says it's on track to activate nationwide intermittent U.S. service before the end of 2026
- Q3 revenue was $42.3 million and full-year 2026 guidance is unchanged at $150 million to $200 million
- The satellite company plans to build its own 20-ton Blacklift rocket, giving it more control over its launch capabilities
It’s only 10 days into November and AST SpaceMobile has already issued five press releases so far this month. Obviously, the company’s founder and CEO Abel Avellan had a lot to talk about during his company’s quarterly conference call on Monday.
The quarter was defined by four milestones in the areas of service, satellite launches, government contracts and capital, he said.
AST SpaceMobile is on track for nationwide intermittent service activation in the United States and other key markets before the end of 2026.
In the U.S., the satellite company has agreements with AT&T and Verizon, and just last week, AST announced they had validated the first-ever satellite beam handover between AT&T’s ground-based network and AST’s space-based network.
But AT&T stressed that while it’s a significant milestone, it’s not the finish line. The next phase is beta service in real-world conditions, with a broader objective being commercial service when ready.
AST SpaceMobile to build its own rocket
On its launch capabilities, AST on Friday announced plans to build its own 20-ton rocket to deploy its BlueBird satellites into low Earth orbit. The rocket, named Blacklift, will be able to carry up to five BlueBird satellites per launch starting in late 2028. Firefly Aerospace will provide the engines for the rocket.
Having its own launch capabilities will give the company greater control over its launch availability and deployment schedules. The plans for Blacklift do not replace its existing launch agreements with SpaceX, Blue Origin and others for 2027 and 2028.
CFO Andy Johnson said the company’s manufacturing facilities in Midland, Texas, are “completely transformed and buzzing with activity” to achieve a manufacturing cadence of six ASIC satellites per month before the end of this year. That positions the company well to support its current deployment plan, targeting about 45 BlueBird satellites in orbit by the middle of 2027.
Beyond 2027 and 2028, AST anticipates reaching deployment of more than 100 BlueBirds under its current launch agreements and then in late 2028, it expects to bring Blacklift to the launch pad.
The company anticipates capital expenditures in Q4 2026 to be in the range of $400 million to $500 million, primarily driven by the timing of launch payments, which vary from quarter to quarter.
U.S. government awards – and Japan
In the government sector, AST SpaceMobile was awarded a contract valued at about $100 million for advanced space-based sensing capabilities for the U.S. Space Force. It now has 16 U.S. government awards to date.
Internationally, the Japanese government is contributing about $1 billion to support a joint venture between AST SpaceMobile and Rakuten for a LEO project in Japan. Through the JV, Rakuten AST will collaborate with AST SpaceMobile to deploy and manage satellites compatible with mid-band spectrum; the project is expected to start domestic operations by the end of March 2029.
Finally, in terms of capital, AST SpaceMobile’s balance sheet is strong, Avellan said, with $3.2 billion in cash, cash equivalent and restricted cash, reinforced by the $1 billion in subsidies with Rakuten. In addition, there’s $1.2 billion non-diluted additional quasi-governmental financing that’s in the pipeline for 2027.
Third quarter revenue grew to $42.3 million, mainly from commercial and U.S. government customers. The company remains on target for full-year 2026 revenue guidance of $150 million to $200 million.
Enabling AI everywhere
Responding to a question from an investor about AST’s relationship with Google and Meta, Avellan said Google is an investor in AST SpaceMobile and “we have been working with them for a long time.” It’s also working with Meta and others.
In fact, he said AST SpaceMobile is “very active” with all the technology companies working on AI, including physical AI, and its large phased-array satellites offer “exponentially” improved performance.
“You basically enable AI everywhere, into everything combined with the ability to connect very small form factor devices, phones or things that are smaller than phones, machines, cars, drones and everything that requires AI to be able to function,” he said.
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