AST SpaceMobile, the direct-to-smartphone satellite company, fell about 8% on Monday after Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket placed its BlueBird 7 satellite into an orbit too low to sustain operations during a Sunday launch from Cape Canaveral.
The satellite successfully separated from the rocket and powered on, but the upper stage delivered it to a parking orbit of roughly 154 by 494 kilometres, well below the intended altitude, and the spacecraft's electric propulsion system could not compensate.
BlueBird 7, which carried a 2,400-square-foot phased array antenna and would have been the company's eighth satellite in low-earth orbit, will now have to be deorbited and left to burn up in the atmosphere.
The failure marks the first major setback for Blue Origin's New Glenn programme, which made its maiden flight in January 2025 after more than a decade in development.
The rocket's reusable first-stage booster, nicknamed "Never Tell Me The Odds," landed successfully on a drone ship in the Atlantic for the second time, achieving a turnaround of roughly 157 days between flights.
AST SpaceMobile said the cost of the lost satellite is expected to be recovered under its insurance policy and that BlueBird satellites 8, 9 and 10 should be ready to ship within 30 days.
The company said it still targets roughly 45 satellites in orbit by the end of 2026, with future missions batching spacecraft in groups of up to eight per launch rather than flying them individually.
William Blair analyst Louie DiPalma said the year-end target will likely be hard to hit but noted the company gained valuable integration experience with Blue Origin's team.
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Clear Street analyst Greg Pendy reiterated a buy rating but cut his price target to $115 from $137.
UBS analyst Christopher Schoell warned that investor uncertainty over New Glenn's reliability could weigh on sentiment, writing that the rocket's success is key to AST's deployment schedule and management's 2027 revenue goal.
The recap
- Blue Origin placed AST SpaceMobile's satellite into wrong low-earth orbit.
- AST expects launches about once every one to two months.
- BlueBird satellites 8, 9 and 10 should be ready in 30 days.
