AST SpaceMobile Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) President Scott Wisniewski says that the company is targeting an early 2027 launch timeline for deploying 45 satellites.
Blue Origin Has Made Tremendous Progress
During AST SpaceMobile’s second-quarter earnings call, Wisniewski was asked about the company’s target for satellite deployments. “We have 10 launches booked with two different providers, and we’re targeting a cadence of every month or two on average,” Wisniewski said.
When asked for a specific number of launches with providers like Blue Origin, he said that the Jeff Bezos-backed company had “made tremendous progress to date” after the May setback when its New Glenn rocket exploded during the static fire test in Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida.
“They’re targeting this year. We’re not betting on that necessarily,” Wisniewski said, adding that the company would be “happy” if Blue Origin pulls it off but “we’re not betting on that in our numbers.” He then said that AST Space Mobile was targeting “early 2027 for our initial 45 satellites.”
Satellite Costs
Andrew Johnson, the company’s Chief Financial Officer, then chimed in about the cost per satellite that the satellite designer was incurring. “We’ve been consistent now for several quarters that we are falling between $21 million and $23 million per satellite,” Johnson said.
He also said that the cost was inclusive of launch and labor, while adding that AST SpaceMobile, over the life of the 90 satellites, felt “good with that number.” Johnson then said that the company was working on bringing its costs down.
Government Contracts
“We see several growth opportunity across government communications and non-communications opportunities, including radar, emergency response, Internet of Things, AI edge compute, and other advanced connectivity solutions,” Abel Avellan, the company’s CEO, said.
Wisniewski said the company had three new U.S. government contract awards with a funded near-term value of more than $100 million, with the revenue expected in 2026 and 2027.
Earnings Miss
The company, during its earnings call, reported an EPS loss of 77 cents per share, which missed market expectations for losses of 28 cents per share. AST SpaceMobile reported revenue of $31.52 million for the quarter, also below the Street estimate of $34.98 million.
Meanwhile, the company had earlier announced partnerships with major European mobile network operators, including Vodafone Group Plc (NASDAQ:VOD) and more to develop a satellite-based cellular broadband network. The company had also launched its three BlueBird satellites onboard Space Exploration Technologies Corp.‘s (NASDAQ:SPCX) Falcon 9 rocket.
Price Action: ASTS was down 2.85% to $66.80 during pre-market trading on Tuesday.
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