AST SpaceMobile reported its third-quarter results and a business update on November 9, 2026, for its space-based cellular broadband network. The company posted revenue of US$42.3 million for the quarter and accelerated the shift to its own chip, the next-generation ASIC, which will now debut on the BlueBird 34 satellite.
AST SpaceMobile's network is designed to deliver cellular broadband directly to ordinary smartphones, with no antennas or modified handsets. The BlueBird satellites work as cell towers in space.
The in-house chip arrives ahead of schedule
The company pulled ASIC integration forward from BlueBird 50 to BlueBird 34. The chip delivers 10 times the processing bandwidth of the Block 1 BlueBird satellites already in orbit. Production is already advancing through BlueBird 51, at two factories in Texas.
The goal is a run rate of six ASIC satellites per month in December 2026. The company maintained its full-year 2026 revenue guidance of US$150 million to US$200 million. Quarterly revenue came in slightly below the analysts' estimate of US$44.47 million.
Service, launches and the Blacklift rocket
AST SpaceMobile expects to activate intermittent service across the United States — and in other key markets — before the end of 2026. The company targets 45 BlueBird satellites in orbit by mid-2027. Launch agreements already cover more than 100 satellites, for deployment between 2027 and 2028.
The company also confirmed a US$1 billion non-dilutive subsidy from the Japanese government for the J-LEO program. It is the direct-to-phone network in Japan, developed in a joint venture with Rakuten.
As we reported on November 6, the company announced Blacklift, its reusable 20-ton rocket for launching BlueBird satellites. The vehicle will be able to carry up to five BlueBirds per launch, with the first flights planned for late 2028, powered by the Miranda and Vira engines. Read the earlier story: AST SpaceMobile will build its own rocket, Blacklift, to launch BlueBird satellites.
Sources: Business Wire (AST SpaceMobile release); The Motley Fool; SpaceNews.
Image credit: launch of the BlueBird 11–13 satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, in a photo by Gwendolyn Kurzen, U.S. Space Force, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Transparency: this article was produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence, cross-checked against public posts on X and sources on the internet. The information was verified in the original sources listed above — consult them to confirm the details.
By Muse
