NEW YORK, April 14, 2026, 12:14 EDT
AST SpaceMobile slipped over 10% on Tuesday, giving up an early surge as the company pushed back its BlueBird 7 launch yet again, just as competition in the satellite-to-phone market gets more intense. Shares traded down 10.5% at $88.53 by midday, after kicking off the session at $103.00.
AST’s latest step lands it right in the thick of the D2D satellite race—an area where regular smartphones can tap satellites directly, no extra gadgets required. Investors are watching closely: some point to AST’s first real revenue and its backlog of signed deals as encouraging signs, while others remain wary given the tight launch schedule and a valuation that doesn’t leave much room for missteps.
Back in March, AST reported 2025 revenue of $70.9 million and $54.3 million for the fourth quarter, while locking in over $1.2 billion in contracted revenue commitments from partners. Chief Executive Abel Avellan called 2025 the year the company “became a revenue generating business,” adding that AST expects to move from its initial commercial launch to wider service in 2026. SEC
The timeline’s shifted more than once. Back in January, AST pegged BlueBird 7’s launch for late February. On March 2, the company updated investors, saying it was targeting a March window. Now, launch tracker Next Spaceflight puts the mission on the calendar for Friday, April 17 at 10:45 GMT from Cape Canaveral. AST’s own website, though, still notes the timing could change.
BlueBird 7 isn’t just another satellite for investors. It’s a crucial test for AST’s pitch that its larger Block 2 BlueBirds can deliver up to 120 Mbps peak per coverage cell, while keeping up a launch pace of one mission roughly every month or two—a schedule meant to build out a constellation of 45 to 60 satellites by the end of 2026.
Tuesday brought fresh tension: Amazon announced plans to acquire Globalstar for $11.57 billion, a move analysts say heats up competition with SpaceX’s Starlink and other satellite players. Reuters noted that with the deal, Amazon would take on Globalstar’s 24 satellites, adding them to its network already topping 200. Starlink, for its part, has more than 10,000 satellites and serves upwards of nine million customers around the world.
Summit Ridge Group’s Armand Musey sees Amazon’s Globalstar agreement as a way for the company to “leap ahead on D2D deployment.” Canaccord Genuity’s Austin Moeller points to ongoing consolidation in satellite communications, driven by the scale and launch muscle of SpaceX. Reuters
AST’s commercial efforts haven’t stalled. Last month, Orange announced a partnership with AST and Satellite Connect Europe—AST’s joint venture with Vodafone—to push satellite-to-smartphone connectivity. The companies are planning voice, SMS, and data demos in Romania in late 2026. Orange described its strategy as multi-vendor, saying it will pick partners according to what fits each market best.
The risk is clear enough. Back in January, AST warned that launch schedules might shift, citing launcher readiness, weather, and assorted outside variables. In March, the company reported it held more than $3.9 billion—cash, equivalents, restricted cash, plus liquidity—on a pro forma basis. But a securities filing from February made it plain: AST still planned to raise more capital to pay for building, assembling, and launching its constellation, as well as getting commercial operations off the ground.
The stock, for now, sits right between two sharply opposed camps in recent commentary: bulls point to real revenue finally coming in and a growing backlog, while skeptics focus on AST SpaceMobile’s need to actually deliver on launches, turn commitments into service income, and hang on as bigger competitors show up. The price action Tuesday—volatile—underscored that investors are still holding out for the same trigger as last month: a successful BlueBird 7 launch and initial on-orbit tests.
