NEW YORK, December 29, 2025, 10:14 ET — Regular session
- AST SpaceMobile shares rose about 2.3% in morning trade
- COO told PTI BlueBird 6 should begin operations “in the coming weeks”
- Investors are watching on-orbit milestones and launch cadence into early 2026
AST SpaceMobile shares rose on Monday after the company’s chief operating officer outlined a near-term timeline for its newest satellite to begin operating.
The Texas-based satellite-to-smartphone company’s stock was up 2.3% at $73.60 by 10:14 a.m. ET, after falling sharply in the prior session.
The move matters because AST is trading on execution risk: investors want evidence that the company can move from launches to sustained, on-orbit service and then scale its constellation.
Any signal on timing can shift sentiment quickly, as traders reassess how soon AST can start generating meaningful service revenue from partners and whether it can keep to an aggressive launch schedule.
India’s PTI news agency reported that AST’s BlueBird Block-2 satellite — BlueBird 6 — is expected to commence operations in the coming weeks, quoting AST Chief Operating Officer Shanti B. Gupta.
“In the coming weeks, it will start operations,” Gupta told PTI. ETManufacturing.in
PTI also reported that AST is targeting 45 to 60 satellites by end-2026 and plans launches roughly every two months, with about five launches anticipated by the end of the first quarter of 2026.
AST said in a statement that BlueBird 6 is the largest commercial communications array deployed in low Earth orbit, a term for satellites operating a few hundred miles above Earth.
The company is developing “direct-to-device” service, which aims to connect standard smartphones to satellites without specialized handsets, using spectrum from telecom partners. ETManufacturing.in+1
AST’s progress is being watched closely as telecom operators weigh satellite links to extend coverage beyond cell towers, and as competition heats up in satellite-to-phone connectivity.
In trading on Monday, AST shares swung between $69.80 and $74.87, with about 3.6 million shares changing hands.
Traders are focused next on company updates confirming on-orbit deployment steps and performance, as well as any details on launch slots and manufacturing throughput that support the early-2026 cadence described by PTI.
Wall Street’s next major checkpoint is quarterly results expected in early March, according to Zacks, which currently forecasts a loss per share for that report.
