AST SpaceMobile Pushes Commercial Satellite-to-Phone Service to Early 2027

AST SpaceMobile has deferred the commercial launch of its Direct-to-Device service to early 2027, moving away from a previously targeted late-2026 timeline. The company disclosed the revised schedule in a regulatory filing on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, alongside plans to raise up to $1 billion in new financing.

The schedule change follows a series of launch vehicle disruptions affecting the Texas-based operator's commercial providers. AST SpaceMobile originally partnered with Blue Origin to launch 45 BlueBird satellites aboard the heavy-lift New Glenn rocket, a deployment intended to establish initial continuous commercial coverage. A late-June 2026 ground test anomaly that caused an upper-stage explosion sidelined the New Glenn vehicle, limiting near-term launch availability.

That setback came after the loss of the BlueBird 7 satellite earlier this year. BlueBird 7 failed to reach its targeted orbit following an off-nominal upper-stage engine burn and reentered the atmosphere. To keep deployment on track, AST SpaceMobile shifted its intermediate satellite batches to SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets.

Concurrent with the schedule revision, the company announced it will seek up to $1 billion through a convertible senior notes offering. The proceeds are earmarked to fund ongoing operations, secure launch capacity, and evaluate potential strategic acquisitions.

AST SpaceMobile is continuing to manufacture and deploy its Block 2 BlueBird satellite configuration, designed to deliver continuous space-based cellular broadband. Each Block 2 satellite features an ultra-large commercial phased-array antenna measuring approximately 2,400 square feet, or 223 square meters, sized to capture weak terrestrial cellular signals. The payload integrates the company's proprietary AST5000 application-specific integrated circuit architecture and is configured to deliver data speeds of up to 120 Mbps directly to standard, unmodified 4G and 5G smartphones. The constellation operates under a comprehensive FCC license that authorizes up to 248 non-geostationary orbit satellites using terrestrial partner bands.

The next three satellites, BlueBirds 11, 12, and 13, have completed fabrication and are scheduled to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket during the first half of August 2026. That deployment will expand AST SpaceMobile's total in-orbit fleet to 13 space vehicles.

The revised timeline reflects the company's response to constrained launch availability while it works to rebuild an active constellation footprint capable of supporting commercial service. The financing effort is intended to sustain operations and secure the launch capacity needed to advance toward that goal.

The August Falcon 9 launch of BlueBirds 11, 12, and 13 is the next scheduled milestone, expanding the in-orbit fleet to 13 satellites. The convertible senior notes offering, if completed, will determine the funding available for continued operations, launch procurement, and potential acquisitions ahead of the early-2027 commercial service target.