FCC grants AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) full approval for the planned 248 satellite constellation

This comes as the FAA requested Blue Origin to investigate New Glenn 3’s second stage booster failure, which resulted in Blue Origin failing to properly deploy AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird 7 (BB7) satellite at the intended altitude. AST has since de-orbited the BB7 satellite, and is working on the next batch of satellites, which is expected to be a 3-satellite batch delivered to SpaceX in the coming month. BB8-10 are believed to be completed. AST SpaceMobile is expected to launch BB8, BB9 and BB10 in a coming SpaceX Falcon 9 flight. BB10 through BB15 are expected to be launched in two subsequent Falcon 9 flights in 2026, each flight carrying 3 satellites. The company stated that satellites up to BB32 are currently in production. AST has reaffirmed its guidance of having 45 satellites up by EOY 2026, but I don’t believe this will be possible. Based on current cadence, I expect a minimum of 6 satellites and a maximum of 17 satellites to be deployed by EOY 2026. I have posted my positions here several times 241 shares @ $77 average 2 contracts Jan ‘27 $80c