April 19, 2026, 11:39 EDT — Cape Canaveral, Florida.
AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird 7 satellite wound up in an off-nominal orbit—basically, not where it was supposed to be—after Sunday’s launch aboard Blue Origin’s New Glenn, a setback just as the Texas firm gears up for its 2026 network. Despite the unexpected trajectory, Blue Origin reported that AST confirmed the satellite’s power was on, and New Glenn’s first-stage booster, reused from an earlier flight, touched down at Cape Canaveral as planned.
This snag is a problem for AST, since BlueBird 7 is its second Block 2 satellite and critical to the fleet aimed at rolling out service in 2026. The company is pushing to launch direct-to-device connections—satellites linking straight to standard smartphones, no extra gear needed. Blue Origin had described this mission as a capacity boost, positioned to help make that rollout happen this year.
AST, in a statement released before the event, highlighted that BlueBird 7 is equipped with an antenna array spanning roughly 2,400 square feet, aiming to provide comprehensive 4G and 5G broadband—voice, data, video all included. “Every launch brings us closer to fulfilling our mission,” said President Scott Wisniewski, who described the satellites as the culmination of years of effort in Texas. Business Wire
BlueBird 7 didn’t follow the usual script. Back in March, Chairman and CEO Abel Avellan told investors AST was still targeting 45 to 60 satellites aloft by year-end, and laying groundwork for launches every month or two. The company, he said, expected broader commercial service to kick in as the network scaled in 2026. At that point, AST also pointed to more than $1.2 billion already locked in through contracted revenue commitments.
Blue Origin had more than a routine payload mission riding on Sunday’s launch. Micah Walter-Range, who heads up space consultancy Caelus Partners, put it bluntly before liftoff: pulling off the New Glenn-3 would break SpaceX’s “nine-year monopoly on orbital launch vehicle reusability.” The market’s attention was squarely on New Glenn, seen as the first real challenger to Falcon 9. Reuters
AST is pushing into a market that’s filling up quickly. SpaceX’s Starlink, for one, is already operating on a much larger scale. Amazon’s $11.6 billion purchase of Globalstar just last week signaled that another heavyweight is targeting satellite-to-phone service. But according to Bond University’s Gregory Radisic, Amazon still has a critical obstacle: unless it cracks the code on rapid deployment and launch logistics, there’s a structural gap.
Commercial backers pushed BlueBird 7 into the spotlight this year. Last month, Orange announced plans to team with AST and Vodafone’s Satellite Connect Europe for direct-to-cell offerings. They’re eyeing demos in Romania—slated for late 2026—boosting AST’s efforts to secure mobile operator deals ahead of a broader rollout.
Still, Sunday’s anomaly throws a wrench into AST’s timeline. Without getting BlueBird 7 into a workable orbit, the company risks losing a satellite it’s counting on to maintain its launch pace and deliver the services it’s promised for 2026.
AST walks away from launch day with mixed results. BlueBird 7 made it to space, switched on as planned. The lingering question: will it actually meet AST’s requirements? Investors, carrier partners, and competitors are all waiting for that answer.
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