AST SpaceMobile Plans Its Own Rocket to Speed Satellite Launches and Cut Costs

Key Points

• AST SpaceMobile plans to build Blacklift, a reusable rocket designed to carry up to five BlueBird satellites, with a first launch targeted for late 2028 and capacity for as many as two launches per month. The company expects to keep using providers such as SpaceX and Blue Origin for about two more years.
• Developing Blacklift will require several hundred million dollars in additional capital spending next year, but the company says owning launch capability could eventually cut launch costs by 75% and improve schedule certainty.
• AST says it is producing six satellites per month and expects 25 satellites to enable initial beta service in the U.S. and several other markets. It also reports agreements with about 60 mobile operators covering roughly 3 billion devices.

AST SpaceMobile NASDAQ: ASTS plans to develop its own rocket to launch its BlueBird satellites, saying greater control over access to orbit will help it expand its space-based mobile broadband network more quickly.

The launch vehicle, called Blacklift, is planned for late 2028 and is designed to carry up to five BlueBird satellites at a time, founder, CEO and Chairman Abel Avellan said at a company event. The company is targeting the ability to launch at least 72 satellites a year, with up to two launches a month.

“We cannot get enough launches on time for our build,” Avellan said. He added that the company intends to continue relying on third-party launch providers, including SpaceX and Blue Origin, for approximately the next two years.

Launch investment and economics

AST SpaceMobile President Scott Wisniewski said the company expects several hundred million dollars of additional capital spending next year to advance toward Blacklift’s first launch. He said owning the launch capability could ultimately reduce costs by 75% compared with what the company might pay in the market today.

Wisniewski said AST SpaceMobile has more than $3 billion on its balance sheet and has raised nearly $10 billion over time. He also estimated that the company could be spending $20 million a week on operations and building, making launch timing important to its economics.

“The most significant thing for us is the ability to recapture the schedule, recapture certainty of that schedule,” Wisniewski said.

Avellan said Blacklift is being designed specifically to carry BlueBird satellites and is intended to have a reusable first stage. The company plans to use engine technology from Firefly and has obtained rights to manufacture the engine, along with access to engineering, testing and manufacturing resources, he said. AST SpaceMobile will also build its own engine manufacturing capacity.

Satellite production and service plans

Avellan said AST SpaceMobile had 28 satellites ready to ship between the event and January, with production extending through satellite 51. He said the company was producing satellites at a rate of six a month and had orders for 100 satellites and launch contracts covering 2027 and 2028.

The company has more than 500,000 square feet of manufacturing space across 12 buildings in Midland, Texas, Avellan said. He said AST SpaceMobile makes 95% of the parts used in its satellites and has more than 3,000 people working in manufacturing.

Avellan said the company expects its initial beta service in the United States, Europe, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Canada to be enabled with 25 satellites. Those markets were selected because their partners invested early, he said.

A new application-specific integrated circuit, or ASIC, is designed to increase each satellite’s spectrum-processing capacity tenfold from the prior generation, Avellan said. The company has also begun producing components for the next-generation ASIC-equipped satellites, according to a company representative.

Partnerships and market opportunity

Avellan said AST SpaceMobile has agreements with about 60 mobile operators and has signed agreements covering roughly 3 billion devices. He described the company’s objective as providing an everyday complement to terrestrial mobile networks, rather than connectivity only when users are in remote areas.

He also identified potential demand from the U.S. government and markets including Japan, Europe, Canada and Brazil. Avellan said the company is targeting 100 megahertz of spectrum in the United States and between 40 and 60 megahertz in other countries, depending on the market, through its own holdings and operator partnerships.

In Japan, Avellan described a partnership involving Rakuten and a $1 billion investment associated with a sovereign system. He said the arrangement is intended to keep data and control over access in Japan, and he suggested the model could be replicated in other countries.

About AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS)

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. develops a space-based cellular broadband network designed to connect directly with standard mobile phones, without requiring users to purchase specialized satellite devices. Its planned services include voice calls, text messaging and mobile broadband, delivered through partnerships with mobile network operators and integrated with their existing networks. The company is developing and deploying its BlueBird satellite system to provide coverage in areas where terrestrial cellular networks are unavailable or limited.

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