LEO satellite broadband startup AST SpaceMobil Inc. has secured over $1 billion in total contracted revenue commitments from commercial partners, demonstrating strong commercial traction. The company has signed definitive commercial agreements with major telecom operators such as Verizon, AT&T and Saudi Telecom Group (stc) for direct-to-device (D2D) services, thereby expanding its commercial ecosystem. All told, AST has commercial agreements with over 50 mobile network operators with nearly 3 billion subscribers globally.
The company has strengthened its financial position with over $3.2 billion in cash and liquidity, ensuring funding for its satellite constellation and global service expansion. While it has yet to generate revenue from its LEO satellite broadband service, it reported $14.7 million revenue in the third quarter, up from $1.1 million in the previous year, driven by gateway sales to operators and US government contracts.
Importantly, AST said it expects to deliver “intermittent nationwide” LEO satellite service in selected markets in early 2026 with “continuous” service planned for later in 2026 as more satellites are added, according to CEO Abel Avellan, speaking on the company’s third quarter earnings call. In particular:
“We expect to continue scale deployment efforts early next year as we progress activation of an intermittent nationwide service by early 2026 and prepare for continued service later in 2026.”
AST remains committed to its target to have 45 to 60 BlueBird satellites in orbit by the end of 2026, which would enable continuous service across the US, Europe, Japan and “other strategic markets.” Longer-term, the aim is to expand the service to “all targeted” markets with 90 satellites.
Five launches for AST’s next generation BlueBird satellites are planned to take place by the end of the first quarter in 2026, after which launches will be once every one or two months to meet the goal of 45 to 60 satellites in orbit. Of the initial five launches, the first is scheduled for mid-December from India and the remaining four will be from Cape Canaveral with partners SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. The latter’s New Glenn rocket can take up to eight BlueBird satellites while SpaceX’s Falcon 9 can carry up to three satellites.
Source: AST SpaceMobile website
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Avellan also said on the call:
“We showcased Canada’s first successful space-based direct-to-cell voice-over LTE call, video call, and other broadband data and video streaming activations. We believe Canada will represent another attractive market for our direct-to-device cellular broadband service. Space-based cellular broadband connectivity is an industry that we invented, and a recent technology milestone with Verizon and Bell follows several breakthroughs using our direct-to-device technology, including the first-ever 4G and 5G voice calls, voice-over LTE calls, live video calls, streaming, full internet access, and tactical non-terrestrial network connectivity for military and defense purposes, from space to modified smartphones.”
“Our direct-to-device cellular broadband network will help our partners deliver on one of their highest priorities, which is extending connectivity for their customers as part of our effort to deliver on those priorities. We are advancing partners and ecosystem network integration as we progress towards service activation in key partner markets.”
AST has ramped up manufacturing capacity so that it will produce six satellites per month from December, adding that these are “the largest satellites ever launched” into low Earth orbit (LEO). “We’re breaking a world record every time that we take a satellite out of the factory,” Avellan said.
The AST CEO is “very confident in the launch campaign.” The company has built 19 satellites so far and will have built 40 by around the end of March next year. “That matches very well with the launches that we had already financially committed and are in the manifest of our launch partners to take them,” Avellan added.
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It should be noted that T-Mobile US started offering Starlink-based D2D services (called T-Satellite) in July this year. Therefore, AT&T and Verizon D2D services with AST will be many months behind their arch rival.
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Andy Johnson, AST’s chief financial officer, described the company’s performance in 2025 as a time of “rapid growth” as it gets closer to its ambition to build its broadband satellite constellation. “The transition from an emerging R&D-focused startup to an operating company on the path to optimizing our manufacturing and launch cadence has been hard yet invigorating and gratifying work for our now nearly 1,800-person worldwide workforce,” he added.
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References:
https://investors.ast-science.com/quarterly-results
https://ast-science.com/spacemobile-network/our-technology/
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