AST SpaceMobile rises on launch plans for new satellite
AST SpaceMobile rose after announcing launch plans for the first of its next-generation satellites next month, as it tries to execute its plan to offer satellite-based broadband service directly to consumers.
The services-from-space trade has been a popular market theme this year, with companies like AST SpaceMobile, EchoStar, Rocket Lab, and Planet Labs all periodically soaring on updates related to their partnerships and launch plans that might allow them to offer broadband and mobile telephone coverage directly to consumers from space.
AST SpaceMobile’s new satellite, the Bluebird 6, is larger than its predecessor, enabling larger amounts of data transmission and bringing the the services-from-space business closer to reality, the company says.
“Our next-generation satellites will soon enable ubiquitous cellular broadband coverage direct to everyday smartphones from space,” Abel Avellan, founder, chairman, and CEO of AST SpaceMobile, said in a statement.
The company, like competitors Rocket Lab and Planet Lab, remains unprofitable and is expected to post quarterly losses for the next two years, at least.
