AST SpaceMobile: It will be launching satellites almost monthly in the second half of ’26
Though it did not state the all the specific rockets the company will use, the satellite-to-cellphone company AST SpaceMobile revealed this week that it plans to launch its BlueBird satellites every month or two beginning in July 2026.
India’s GSLV rocket is slated to carry AST SpaceMobile’s first Block 2 BlueBird satellite, which the operator said is scheduled to ship from its Texas facility in June. At three times the size of each of the five Block 1 BlueBirds launched last year on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, the satellite would surpass its predecessors to become the largest commercial antenna ever deployed in low Earth orbit.
Abel Avellan, AST SpaceMobile founder and CEO, said that from the second or third launch this year, Block 2 BlueBirds would feature in-house developed chips to support peak data rates of up to 120 megabits per second at 10 times the capacity of Block 1. Subsequent launches would also deploy between three and eight Block 2 satellites at a time, depending on the rocket, Avellan told investors during the company’s earnings call.
Avellan did not give an update on other launch missions that would leverage SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Blue Origin’s New Glenn rockets, whose larger fairings can accommodate up to eight Block 2 satellites per flight.
Whether AST SpaceMobile will be able to fulfill this schedule however is a big question. SpaceX could provide the rockets for all these launches, but the availability of its Falcon 9 rocket might be limited due to other customer contracts as well as its own needs to launch Starlink satellites. Blue Origin’s New Glenn could certainly use the business, but that rocket has only launched once, and the company has been very slow about doing its second launch, now scheduled for later this month. It is very unclear whether it could do more than one of these launches this year.
India’s GSLV rocket could grab the business, but once again it is unclear it has the capacity to do more than two such launches before the end of the year.
All in all, it appears the demand for rocket launches exceeds the supply, a situation that is very good for the launch industry.
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Though it did not state the all the specific rockets the company will use, the satellite-to-cellphone company AST SpaceMobile revealed this week that it plans to launch its BlueBird satellites every month or two beginning in July 2026.
India’s GSLV rocket is slated to carry AST SpaceMobile’s first Block 2 BlueBird satellite, which the operator said is scheduled to ship from its Texas facility in June. At three times the size of each of the five Block 1 BlueBirds launched last year on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, the satellite would surpass its predecessors to become the largest commercial antenna ever deployed in low Earth orbit.
Abel Avellan, AST SpaceMobile founder and CEO, said that from the second or third launch this year, Block 2 BlueBirds would feature in-house developed chips to support peak data rates of up to 120 megabits per second at 10 times the capacity of Block 1. Subsequent launches would also deploy between three and eight Block 2 satellites at a time, depending on the rocket, Avellan told investors during the company’s earnings call.
Avellan did not give an update on other launch missions that would leverage SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Blue Origin’s New Glenn rockets, whose larger fairings can accommodate up to eight Block 2 satellites per flight.
Whether AST SpaceMobile will be able to fulfill this schedule however is a big question. SpaceX could provide the rockets for all these launches, but the availability of its Falcon 9 rocket might be limited due to other customer contracts as well as its own needs to launch Starlink satellites. Blue Origin’s New Glenn could certainly use the business, but that rocket has only launched once, and the company has been very slow about doing its second launch, now scheduled for later this month. It is very unclear whether it could do more than one of these launches this year.
India’s GSLV rocket could grab the business, but once again it is unclear it has the capacity to do more than two such launches before the end of the year.
All in all, it appears the demand for rocket launches exceeds the supply, a situation that is very good for the launch industry.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
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