AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) shares climbed 3% on Thursday, snapping a three-session losing streak driven by fresh operational milestones from the satellite broadband company.
Despite the single-day gain, ASTS remained down 11% for the week, putting the stock on pace for its worst weekly performance in more than a month.
The rally followed the company’s announcement that BlueBird satellites 12 and 13 had fully deployed their 2,400-square-foot communications arrays, a key technical benchmark for the next-generation spacecraft.
BlueBirds 11, 12, and 13 were launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral on August 5, marking a significant expansion of the company’s growing constellation.
The next-generation satellites are more than three times the size of AST SpaceMobile’s five initial Block 1 satellites and are expected to deliver peak data rates approaching 200 Mbps.
That figure represents nearly double the 98.9 Mbps data rate previously achieved by the company, underscoring the performance leap offered by the newer hardware.
AST SpaceMobile said the platform could eventually support applications well beyond mobile connectivity, including AI computing and advanced government capabilities such as space-based radar.
“A growing constellation. An expanding range of applications,” the company said on X, noting its target market spans commercial and government communications infrastructure worldwide.
On the manufacturing front, production of BlueBird 14 is complete, while BlueBirds 15 and 16 are nearing completion and are expected to support the company’s next planned launch.
Production is now advancing all the way through BlueBird 48, with AST SpaceMobile targeting 45 satellites in orbit by early 2027 and working toward a cadence of six fully assembled satellites per month.
The Texas-built constellation is expected to eventually exceed 100 satellites, enabling worldwide SpaceMobile service and deployment of the company’s controlled spectrum.
On the ground infrastructure side, AST SpaceMobile partner 2degrees officially opened the Marton Satellite Ground Station in New Zealand, connecting the satellite system with 2degrees’ core network infrastructure.
The new facility joins nearly 50 gateways in various stages of completion, installation, and planning across the company’s global ground network.
AST SpaceMobile delivered 13 gateways for seven customers across five continents during the second quarter, reflecting the pace of its international buildout.
The company holds agreements with more than 60 mobile network operators representing over 3 billion subscribers, with partners including AT&T, Verizon, Vodafone, Rakuten, Bell, Telus, and stc Group.
Retail sentiment on Stocktwits for ASTS has been “bearish” over the past month, coinciding with a 28% decline in 24-hour message volumes on the platform.
One user noted, “the lack of complete satellites, is a why bother from abel…as in, why bother completing a satellite, knowing full well there is no launch scheduled/coming up in the near future.”
Another user raised further concerns, asking, “$ASTS what are the odds, there is no launch by next earnings call?” reflecting lingering skepticism about near-term execution.
Despite the mixed sentiment, ASTS stock has still gained 27% over the past year, maintaining a strong longer-term track record even as short-term volatility weighs on investor confidence.
