AST SpaceMobile’s satellite timeline has been pushed back after two Blue Origin problems involving the New Glenn rocket and an underperforming BlueBird 7 deployment. The delays have weighed on the stock, now about 34% below its 52-week high, while the company
AST SpaceMobile was already counting on a crowded launch calendar. Then April and May turned into knock-on disruptions—first an orbit that wasn’t usable, then a rocket failure that left a key launch pad in ruins.
The impact shows up in the stock. AST SpaceMobile (ASTS 12.24%) is down 34% from its 52-week high and is trading at $85.62, with today’s change at -12.24% and a current move of $-11.94. Over the past year, the stock’s range has stretched from $36.08 to $133.86.
The company’s core promise is simple on paper: build a telecommunications network entirely from space that can deliver direct-to-cellular broadband to unmodified smartphones—functioning like cellphone towers in orbit. To do that. AST SpaceMobile says it needs between 45 and 60 of its BlueBird satellites in orbit to provide continuous coverage in select early markets.
So far, it has launched six BlueBird satellites. At the start of the year, management aimed to launch up to 45 satellites into orbit and planned a heavy cadence of several satellites per month through the end of this year. That schedule ran into trouble.
In April, the BlueBird 7 satellite—carried by Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket—was deployed into an orbit described as too low to be operational. AST SpaceMobile de-orbited the satellite, and the company said it was fully insured.
Then, in May, Blue Origin faced a more dramatic setback: its New Glenn rocket exploded on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral. The explosion destroyed the rocket and also destroyed Blue Origin’s only launch pad.
With New Glenn sidelined, AST SpaceMobile says it must rely on other launch companies, most notably SpaceX, using its Falcon 9 rocket. The company is targeting mid-June for the launch of its BlueBird 8, 9, and 10 satellites.
Even with that pivot, the company has delayed its timeline for continuous service. AST SpaceMobile says it has been forced to push that milestone into the first half of 2027.
That sequence—one satellite lost to an unusable orbit in April. then New Glenn’s launch pad destroyed in May—has real consequences for investors trying to map progress against deadlines. It also sets up a familiar tension in the space industry: production and partnerships can look solid on one side. but schedule risk can still hit the stock when launches slip.
AST SpaceMobile isn’t standing still. It has scaled its production capacity to manufacture six BlueBird satellites per month and plans to keep building and launching them as quickly as possible. Longer term, the company aims to have over 100 satellites in service to achieve full global coverage and support additional markets.
The company points to stability in another area: it has firm deals with major mobile network operators, including Alphabet, AT&T, Verizon, and Vodafone, to provide reliable coverage and eliminate dead zones in hard-to-reach areas.
For now, AST SpaceMobile remains in the early stages of its constellation buildout. The big question for the next stretch is whether the new launch plan can keep pace with production as the company works toward continuous service in 2027.
AST SpaceMobile ASTS BlueBird satellites Blue Origin New Glenn Falcon 9 Cape Canaveral direct-to-cellular broadband telecommunications satellites stock drop 52-week high