AST SpaceMobile Announces Launch Date for Its Next 3 BlueBird Satellites

Key Points

• SpaceX’s massive IPO triggered an industry-wide sell-off, temporarily knocking AST SpaceMobile shares down 20%.
• ASTS is rebounding ahead of its June 17 launch of three next-gen BlueBird satellites, keeping its global broadband goals on track.
• However, Wall Street remains bearish on the stock, maintaining a consensus Reduce rating following a severe Q1 earnings miss and record insider selling.

Last week brought about another bout of uncertainty for aerospace and space-based cellular broadband network provider AST SpaceMobile NASDAQ: ASTS.

In the lead-up to—and in the wake of—Elon Musk’s massively successful, record-breaking SpaceX NASDAQ: SPCX initial public offering (IPO), shares of ASTS crashed, losing around 20% between after-hours trading on June 11 through the market close on June 12.

AST SpaceMobile wasn’t alone, however. SpaceX’s public debut had a wide-ranging, negative effect across the industry. Shares of EchoStar NASDAQ: SATS, Redwire NYSE: RDW, and Rocket Lab NASDAQ: RKLB all suffered similar fates, falling at least 10%, while the Procure Space ETF NASDAQ: UFO—which tracks a basket of stocks across the space economy—fell by 7%. But it was Richard Branson-founded Virgin Galactic NYSE: SPCE that suffered the most, with shares falling by 31%.

But if there is one thing AST SpaceMobile’s shareholders have grown accustomed to, it is volatility, as demonstrated by the stock’s beta of 2.7 and short interest of nearly 18%. On Monday, June 15, the stock bounced back nearly 7% as investors turned the page on SpaceX’s IPO and set their sights on the Midland, Texas-based company’s next big catalyst.

AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird 8, 9, and 10 Satellites Are Scheduled for Lift Off

On June 9, AST SpaceMobile confirmed that BlueBirds 8, 9, and 10 are scheduled to launch into low Earth orbit on Wednesday, June 17, aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.

That will bring the company’s total constellation to nine operational satellites, with hopes that the launch will keep it on track to meet its 2026 goal of deploying 45 by the end of 2026.

Ultimately, AST SpaceMobile is targeting a fleet of around 90 BlueBirds in order to achieve uninterrupted, global coverage for its direct-to-device, or D2D, services.

“Our upcoming launch marks another important milestone as we continue advancing the deployment of our space-based cellular broadband network,” Scott Wisniewski, president of AST SpaceMobile, said in a press release. “Each BlueBird satellite launched expands our ability to support seamless space-based broadband mobile connectivity directly to everyday smartphones…position[ing] AST SpaceMobile to continue scaling toward continuous global space-based cellular broadband coverage supported by a diversified launch strategy.”

The satellites are designed to provide 24/7 high-speed cellular broadband connectivity to smartphones spanning the globe. At nearly 2,400 square feet, AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBirds are currently the largest in commercial operation, surpassing the previous record held by the firm’s first-generation BlueBirds at 693 square feet.

The upcoming deployments of Bluebirds 8, 9, and 10 are scheduled for Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. All three satellites are being processed, tested, and prepared for payload integration and Falcon 9 encapsulation.

In April, questions arose about whether or not the company’s goal was achievable after its BlueBird 7 was forced to be deorbited after Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket failed to deposit the satellite into the correct orbit. Shares of ASTS slid 15% on that news, but the stock has received numerous tailwinds since then. Chief among them was the U.S. Federal Communications Commission granting the company commercial authority to provide D2D broadband connectivity from space nationwide in the United States on April 22.

Wall Street’s AST SpaceMobile Outlook Remains Tempered

Volatility aside, analysts have tempered their forecasts for ASTS, particularly in light of the company’s galactic Q1 2026 earnings miss.

When AST SpaceMobile last reported results on May 11, it announced a double-miss: earnings per share (EPS) of negative 66 cents widely missed expectations of negative 23 cents, and revenue of $14.74 million fell well short of expectations of more than $39 million. The EPS miss was AST SpaceMobile’s fifth in as many quarters, and the revenue miss was its sixth in the last seven quarters.

As a result, the stock currently carries a consensus Reduce rating and carries an average 12-month price target that suggests around 8% additional downside—despite shares already having fallen nearly 34% from their all-time high of $133.09 on May 28.

Notably, of the 11 analysts who currently track ASTS, only one assigns the stock a Buy rating, while three assign it a Sell rating and seven assign it a Hold rating.

Meanwhile, insider and institutional selling has accelerated. In Q2, insider selling reached a quarterly record of $272 million, surpassing the prior record of $164 million set in Q4 FY2025, with no insider buying since last year.

Despite AST SpaceMobile having maintained its full-year revenue guidance—which highlights its operational stability and steady management outlook—216 institutional sellers dumped $19 million worth of the stock in Q1.