The company says its next-generation BlueBird satellite program remains on schedule, with more spacecraft close behind.
- BlueBird 11 has reached Cape Canaveral ahead of its planned first-half August launch.
- BlueBird satellites 12 and 13 are expected to reach the launch site shortly.
- The satellites are set to launch into low Earth orbit aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) shares slipped in Friday afternoon trading even though the company announced that its BlueBird 11 satellite had reached Cape Canaveral, Florida, ahead of its planned orbital launch next month.
At the time of writing, ASTS shares were down around 0.45%.
BlueBird Satellites Move Closer To Launch
In a post on X, the satellite communications company said BlueBird 11 is now launch-bound, with BlueBirds 12 and 13 expected to arrive at Cape Canaveral shortly.
“BlueBird 11 arrives at Cape Canaveral. BlueBirds 12 and 13 will be following shortly. Next stop, orbital launch in the first half of August,” the company said.
AST SpaceMobile added that the update reflects continued progress in scaling its manufacturing operations, describing the effort as “execution in motion” and highlighting that the satellites were built in Texas as part of its plan to deliver space-based broadband services.
ASTS Strengthens Space-Based Cellular Network
BlueBirds 11, 12, and 13 are set to launch into low Earth orbit aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, building on the successful June 2026 deployment of BlueBirds 8, 9, and 10, which are already operating in orbit.
The mission will add the next batch of next-generation satellites to AST SpaceMobile’s space-based cellular broadband network, which is designed to deliver voice, data and video services directly to standard, unmodified smartphones.
The new BlueBird satellites will have 2,400-square-foot communications arrays, similar in size to those already in orbit. AST SpaceMobile expects them to deliver nearly twice the peak data speeds of its first-generation Block 1 BlueBird satellites, which recently achieved download speeds of 98.9 Mbps directly to standard smartphones.
ASTS Stock: What Stocktwits Retail Sentiment Says
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for ASTS was ‘bearish,’ while message volume was ‘low’ at the time of writing.
One user shared a screenshot of the X post announcing BlueBird 11’s arrival at Cape Canaveral and said, “Let’s shoot to $100 next week.”
View this Stocktwits post
The ASTS stock has gained around 4% year-to-date.
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