Three BlueBird Satellites Lift Asts Stock on June 17
asts stock got a fresh catalyst on June 17 as SpaceX launched three AST SpaceMobile BlueBird satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 2:39 a.m. EDT. The Falcon 9 carried BlueBird 8, BlueBird 9 and BlueBird 10 into the company’s direct-to-cell buildout.
Three satellites is the immediate change for AST SpaceMobile shareholders. The launch expands the company’s low Earth orbit constellation, which is designed to beam internet service directly to cell phones, and it lifts the number of next-generation BlueBird satellites in orbit to four times the prior count.
Cape Canaveral Lifted Off At 2:39 a.m.
2:39 a.m. EDT was the launch time from Florida’s Space Coast, with the Falcon 9 lifting off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The rocket’s first stage returned to Earth about 8.5 minutes later and landed on the SpaceX drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas, marking the booster’s 29th launch and landing on the mission.
54.5 minutes after launch, the Falcon 9 upper stage was planned to begin deploying the three satellites over a 10.5-minute span. That sequence put all three BlueBird spacecraft on the path AST SpaceMobile needs as it builds a network that can reach everyday smartphones directly from orbit.
BlueBird 8 9 10 Add Capacity
BlueBird 8, BlueBird 9 and BlueBird 10 are the next-generation spacecraft in the fleet. Their antennas cover nearly 2,400 square feet, or 223 square meters, when unfurled, compared with 693 square feet, or 64.4 square meters, on the original BlueBird satellites.
4 times is the increase in next-generation satellites in low Earth orbit after the June 17 launch. Before that flight, AST SpaceMobile had launched seven spacecraft, but BlueBird 7 was lost after it was deployed into the wrong orbit following an anomaly on April 19 aboard Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket.
Wisniewski Called It Another Milestone
Scott Wisniewski said on June 9, “Our upcoming launch marks another important milestone as we continue advancing the deployment of our space-based cellular broadband network” and added, “Each BlueBird satellite launched expands our ability to support seamless space-based broadband mobile connectivity directly to everyday smartphones.”
That leaves AST SpaceMobile with three newly launched satellites and a clearer path for its direct-to-phone network, while BlueBird 6 remains the company’s earlier successful next-generation flight from December 2025 on an Indian LVM3 rocket. The next step for investors is whether the new spacecraft can stay on orbit and move the broadband plan from launch cadence to usable capacity.
