AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) shares are trading higher premarket on Thursday after the company disclosed that its BlueBird 7 mission is scheduled to launch in late February.
It is set to take off from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Launch Details
BlueBird 7, identical to BlueBird 6, is the second satellite in AST SpaceMobile's next-generation rollout.
Spanning nearly 2,400 square feet, it carries the largest commercial communications array in low Earth orbit—3.5 times larger than BlueBirds 1–5.
Backed by significant technical innovation and more than 3,800 patents and pending claims, the design supports peak data speeds of up to 120 Mbps for space-based voice, data, and streaming services.
The BlueBird 7 mission marks New Glenn's first launch, with its seven-meter fairing capable of carrying up to eight Block 2 BlueBird satellites per flight.
The next-generation BlueBird satellites are built to fly on all major launch vehicles.
Future New Glenn missions are expected to carry up to eight of these satellites per launch, with the rocket's seven-meter fairing providing roughly double the payload volume of traditional five-meter commercial launch systems.
AST SpaceMobile plans a multi-launch campaign in 2026, targeting one orbital launch every one to two months and aiming to deploy 45–60 satellites by year-end.
Recent Key Events
Last week, AST SpaceMobile secured a prime position on the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense (SHIELD) program, a multi-award indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract that could generate future task orders.
ASTS Price Action: AST SpaceMobile shares were up 6.52% at $110.24 during premarket trading on Thursday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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