MW AST SpaceMobile's stock rebounds as the satellite company gets a much-needed win
By William Gavin
Days after being negatively impacted by a Blue Origin launch snafu, AST SpaceMobile won regulatory approval for a large satellite constellation
AST SpaceMobile's stock is gaining on Wednesday.
AST SpaceMobile's plan to operate a constellation of hundreds of satellites has been approved, paving the way for the company to challenge Elon Musk's SpaceX.
The Federal Communications Commission said after Tuesday's closing bell that the company could deploy and operate a 248-satellite constellation in low-Earth orbit. "This action allows AST to dramatically improve services" and provide direct-to-consumer connectivity to users in dead zones, the regulator said in its order.
Earlier, in 2024, the FCC had only cleared AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) to operate its first five BlueBird satellites. But it needs a lot more than that to offer what it calls the "first and only space-based cellular broadband network" for consumer and commercial applications. It aims to begin commercial services in the second half of 2026.
"Today marks an important step as we continue scaling our network and moving closer to commercial service," AST SpaceMobile CEO Abel Avellan said in a statement.
AST SpaceMobile's stock was up 7% in morning action on Wednesday, rebounding after a satellite-launch snafu sent shares lower earlier in the week.
See: These little-known chip stocks could be winners as SpaceX and Amazon make big satellite pushes
On Sunday, Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin launched AST SpaceMobile's BlueBird 7 satellite to the wrong altitude in orbit, requiring AST SpaceMobile to de-orbit the satellite.
"While we are pleased with the nominal booster recovery, we clearly didn't deliver the mission our customer wanted, and our team expects," Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp said in a statement, adding that his firm and AST SpaceMobile are "looking forward to many flights together."
Blue Origin is a key partner for AST SpaceMobile and has been contracted to carry out several missions for the company. Although Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket only took one satellite to orbit this week, future missions could transport as many as eight satellites at a time.
Between 45 and 60 satellites will be needed to enable continuous satellite-internet coverage across AST SpaceMobile's designated markets, including the U.S. and Japan, according to the company. Ninety will be needed for worldwide coverage. At least 45 satellites are expected to be in operation by the end of 2026.
"We expect to fully utilize New Glenn fairing capacity as we progress through our orbital launch plans," CEO Avellan said on a call with analysts last month.
AST will need to compete with both SpaceX's Starlink, which has been serving customers for a few years, and Amazon's (AMZN) nascent satellite-internet division. To help reach customers, AST SpaceMobile plans to leverage its relationship with more than 50 mobile network operators that collectively have almost 3 billion subscribers.
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-William Gavin
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April 22, 2026 09:32 ET (13:32 GMT)
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