Episode

AST SpaceMobile Q3 2025 Earnings Call

2025-11-11 1:14:46 Abel Avellan · Scott Wisniewski · Andy Johnson · Michael Funk (Bank of America) · Mike Crawford (B. Riley Securities) · Brian Kraft (Deutsche Bank) · Colin Canfield (Cantor Fitzgerald) · Chris O'Shaw (UBS) · Louie DiPalma (William Blair) · Greg Pandy (ClearStreet) · Chris Quilty (Quilty Space) · Scott Siegel (Ross Capital Partners) · Unidentified guest

This episode is a rebroadcast of AST SpaceMobile's official Q3 2025 earnings/business-update call, featuring CEO Abel Avellan, President/CSO Scott Wisniewski, and CFO/CLO Andy Johnson (no SpaceMob hosts Anpanman or Kook are present).

The headline news is that AST SpaceMobile disclosed for the first time over $1 billion in aggregate contracted commercial revenue commitments, and signed definitive commercial agreements with Verizon and Saudi Telecom Group (STC). It reported $14.7 million of Q3 GAAP revenue.

The company also said it is now fully funded, with ~$3.2 billion pro forma cash/liquidity as of September 30, 2025, to manufacture and launch a constellation of over 100 satellites. That is up from the prior 45-60 satellite funded target.

Management reiterated 2025 revenue guidance of $50-75 million and confirmed BlueBird 6 and 7 are shipping for imminent launches. Management also fielded analyst questions on spectrum strategy, launch cadence, capital allocation, and government/defense positioning.

Key Takeaways

  • AST SpaceMobile disclosed for the first time that it has secured over $1 billion in aggregate contracted commercial revenue commitments from its commercial partners, a figure that excludes government, FirstNet, military, and other government-agency revenue.
  • AST SpaceMobile signed new definitive commercial agreements with Verizon (extending a prior $100 million commitment, targeting continental US service starting 2026) and with Saudi Telecom Group/STC (a 10-year agreement covering Saudi Arabia and MENA, including a $175 million prepayment to be made by the end of 2025), adding to existing definitive agreements with AT&T and Vodafone.
  • Q3 2025 GAAP revenue was $14.7 million, up from about $2 million in Q2 2025, driven by gateway hardware sales and US government/commercial service milestones; the company reiterated second-half 2025 revenue guidance of $50-75 million.
  • AST SpaceMobile said it is now fully funded, via cash, liquidity, and future revenue, to manufacture and launch a constellation of over 100 satellites (up from a prior fully-funded target of 45-60 satellites), supported by pro forma cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash plus ATM liquidity of approximately $3.2 billion as of September 30, 2025.
  • The company has now equitized $410 million of the original $460 million January 2025 convertible notes (4.25% due 2032) into 17.3 million Class A shares across three transactions, including an additional $50 million converted in October 2025, leaving only $50 million of those notes outstanding.
  • Manufacturing is at BlueBird satellites 8 through 19 in production, with a plan to complete 40 satellites' worth of Micron modules by early 2026 and to exit 2025 at a manufacturing cadence of 6 satellites per month; the manufacturing/operations footprint is approaching 500,000 square feet with nearly 1,800 employees.
  • BlueBird 6 has shipped to India for a launch expected in the first half of December 2025, and BlueBird 7 is expected to ship to Cape Canaveral later in November 2025 with launch shortly after; the company reiterated its target of 5 orbital launches by the end of Q1 2026 and 45-60 satellites launched by the end of 2026.
  • AST SpaceMobile confirmed access to over 80 MHz of paired, high-quality spectrum in the US alone (about 50 MHz owned plus roughly 30 MHz from MNO partners), versus a typical terrestrial operator's roughly 250 MHz per US market, and said it is actively deploying an AI engine to dynamically manage spectrum allocation across the network to multiply effective capacity.
  • Management declined to comment on speculation about AST SpaceMobile's participation in the EU's IRIS² satellite program, and confirmed the announced EU/Vodafone SatCo satellite constellation is part of the existing 45-60 satellite plan rather than incremental to it.

Detailed Discussion8 topics

Call Opening and Company Overview

2
  • Scott Wisniewski Untagged 00:00:18

    Opened the call noting he was joined by Chairman/CEO Abel Avellan and CFO/Chief Legal Officer Andy Johnson, referred listeners to the safe harbor disclaimer and risk factors in AST SpaceMobile's 10-K (year ended Dec 31, 2024) and its Q1, Q2, and the Q3 2025 10-Qs (filed May 12, 2025; Aug 11, 2025; and filed the day of this call), and noted the call would include Q&A from both submitted shareholder questions and live analyst questions.

  • Scott Wisniewski Untagged 00:00:18

    Framed the market opportunity: there are nearly 6 billion mobile phones in use worldwide, but many users experience coverage gaps, and billions of people lack cellular broadband and remain unconnected from the global economy; AST SpaceMobile is building the first and only global cellular broadband network in space designed to work directly with unmodified mobile devices, backed by its IP/patent portfolio.

Commercial Agreements and Partner Ecosystem

11
  • Abel Avellan Confirmed 00:01:59

    Highlighted definitive commercial agreements signed with Verizon (US) and STC (Saudi Arabia and other MENA markets) since the last update, adding to an ecosystem of agreements with over 50 MNO partners covering nearly 3 billion subscribers globally.

  • Abel Avellan Company Guidance 00:01:59

    Said the Verizon definitive commercial agreement extends a partnership cultivated over several years, including the $100 million commercial commitment from May of last year (2024), and provides a formal commercial pathway to deliver direct-to-device cellular broadband to Verizon customers starting in 2026, targeting 100% coverage of the continental US alongside AT&T's premium 850 MHz low-band spectrum.

  • Abel Avellan Confirmed 00:01:59

    Described the STC (Saudi Telecom Group) definitive agreement as a 10-year, long-term partnership across a key region with large geography, population growth, and strong demand for connectivity.

  • Abel Avellan Confirmed 00:01:59

    Cited a recent BlueBird-enabled technology milestone with Verizon completing direct voice and video calls plus two-way RCS messaging between standard unmodified smartphones, following earlier milestones with Bell Canada including Canada's first successful space-based direct-to-cell VoLTE call, video call, and other broadband data/video streaming activations.

  • Abel Avellan Confirmed 00:01:59

    Said AST SpaceMobile disclosed for the first time that it has secured over $1 billion in total contracted revenue commitments from its commercial partners, calling it a snapshot of how the business is developing and of how partners are thinking about the financial impact of the opportunity.

  • Scott Wisniewski Confirmed 00:12:47

    Reiterated the $1 billion-plus aggregate contracted revenue commitment disclosure, noting it followed two additional definitive commercial agreements (Verizon and STC) since the last update, adding to prior definitive agreements with AT&T and Vodafone; strategy is to keep signing similar agreements with top partners from the 50+ MNO ecosystem (nearly 3 billion subscribers) on a rolling basis.

  • Scott Wisniewski Confirmed 00:12:47

    Said the STC relationship began with an MOU signed in early 2023; the definitive agreement, signed last month (October 2025), covers direct-to-device services across the Middle East and North Africa and includes a prepayment of $175 million to be made by the end of 2025 plus a significant long-term commercial revenue commitment.

  • Scott Wisniewski Company Guidance 00:12:47

    Noted the intention to further deepen European ties via the SatCo joint venture with Vodafone, including a constellation of mid-band satellites dedicated to the EU; SatCo (based in Luxembourg) is scaling with new leadership/employee hires, with MOUs signed in 21 of 27 EU member states to date.

  • Scott Wisniewski Confirmed 01:06:24

    Confirmed (in response to an analyst question) that the over $1 billion in commitments is entirely commercial, not blended with government revenue.

  • Scott Wisniewski Untagged 01:00:24

    In response to Louie DiPalma (William Blair), declined to give an average duration for the revenue commitments, saying signed contracts range from about 5 to 10 years (STC being a 10-year deal), and that the disclosed $1 billion figure is primarily tied to the definitive agreements but also includes some other binding agreements.

  • Abel Avellan Speculation 01:04:03

    In response to Greg Pandy (ClearStreet), on the roughly 50 MNO partners representing ~3 billion subscribers versus an estimated total addressable market of about 5.6 billion mobile subscribers: Scott Wisniewski said AST SpaceMobile has intentionally structured its technology, network, go-to-market, and even its cap stack to be favorable to MNOs, and that nearly all global operators (except in China, Russia, and a few other restricted countries where AST has chosen not to do business) are potential candidates and are in some level of dialogue with the company.

Manufacturing and Launch Progress

8
  • Abel Avellan Company Guidance 00:01:59

    Said BlueBird 8 through 19 are in various stages of production, and the company is on schedule to complete 40 satellites' worth of Micron modules by early 2026; manufacturing is 95% vertically integrated and expected to exit calendar 2025 at a cadence of 6 satellites per month.

  • Abel Avellan Company Guidance 00:01:59

    Said the manufacturing/operations footprint will soon exceed half a million square feet, supported by a global workforce of nearly 1,800 people; BlueBird 6 has shipped to its launch site in India, with launch expected in the first half of December, and BlueBird 7 is expected to ship to Cape Canaveral later this month with launch anticipated shortly after.

  • Abel Avellan Company Guidance 00:01:59

    Reiterated a target of 5 orbital launches by the end of Q1 2026, with launches roughly every 1-2 months, to reach a goal of 45-60 satellites launched by the end of 2026; said the AST5000 ASIC chip is expected to be integrated into Block 2 BlueBird satellites during Q1 2026, enabling peak data transmission speeds of up to 120 Mbps.

  • Abel Avellan Company Guidance 00:45:35

    In response to Brian Kraft (Deutsche Bank) about launch-timeline risk given delays this summer and fall, said the company is at satellite 19 of production, manufacturing at a pace of 6 satellites per month starting in December, and that this pace matches the launch manifest with partners — starting with the India launch in mid-December, followed by launches from Cape Canaveral to reach 5 launches by end of Q1 2026; said the company feels very confident in the launch campaign.

  • Scott Wisniewski Untagged 00:35:05

    In response to a shareholder question (Kevin, Oregon) about upcoming launches at Cape Canaveral, said the company is very excited about the launch campaign, noted BlueBird 6 has shipped and BlueBird 7 is being prepped, that roughly 1,000 retail investors attended the last launch, and that AST plans to invite as many retail investors as possible to future launches.

  • Chris Quilty Untagged 01:08:09

    Asked (Quilty Space) about visibility on specific launch vehicles given a constrained heavy-lift market, noting recent delays at Blue Origin and ULA and that SpaceX is currently the only operator launching on a regular cadence, and asked whether other launch vehicles are expected to become available.

  • Abel Avellan Company Guidance 01:08:46

    Responded that AST SpaceMobile expects other launch vehicles to become available over time, but its current/immediate launch campaign uses "the regular suspects" — SpaceX, New Glenn, and ISRO — with new capacity coming from other operators as well; said the immediate launches are centered on American launch providers based in the US.

  • Abel Avellan Company Guidance 01:09:47

    Confirmed the company is still targeting roughly 3 BlueBirds per Falcon 9 launch and up to 8 per New Glenn launch at full capacity, and said New Glenn allows a faster satellite-per-launch cadence than Falcon 9.

Spectrum Strategy and AI-Managed Spectrum

9
  • Abel Avellan Confirmed 00:01:59

    Said AST SpaceMobile owns and/or has access to spectrum profiles including access to what he stated as 1,150 MHz of low-band and mid-band tunable MNO spectrum globally (a figure that appears inconsistent with other spectrum numbers cited later in the call, such as the ~80 MHz US-access figure, and may reflect a transcription or verbal error), plus 45 MHz of AST-licensed MSS lower mid-band (L-band) spectrum and 60 MHz of AST-licensed S-band spectrum priority rights.

  • Abel Avellan Confirmed 00:01:59

    Said that combining AST's own spectrum with MNO partner spectrum gives the company access to over 80 MHz of paired, high-quality spectrum in the US alone — more than any other direct-to-device provider — and reiterated that the S-band and L-band deals (global S-band ITU priority rights and the Ligado L-band access) have both closed, with the L-band deal court-approved.

  • Abel Avellan Confirmed 00:31:15

    Answering a shareholder question on Block 2 processing-capacity differences between FPGA and ASIC satellites, said the company moved from 100 MHz processing on BlueWalker 3 (still functioning), to roughly 1 GHz on satellites currently in orbit and operating (a 10x increase), to about 10 GHz on the newest satellites about to launch (another 10x increase), enabled by the company's own AST5000 chip.

  • Abel Avellan Company Guidance 00:32:46

    Answering a shareholder question on AI for spectrum management, said AST SpaceMobile is actively implementing an AI engine to manage and administer spectrum allocation across the network; each satellite has 10 GHz of processing bandwidth, but effective capacity is multiplied by dynamically managing allocation of power and bandwidth with AI. Noted that in the US, terrestrial operators typically have around 250 MHz of spectrum per market versus AST's roughly 80 MHz of access (about 50 MHz its own), and framed AI-managed satellite spectrum as a new, increasingly relevant "leg of the telco stack" alongside Wi-Fi and terrestrial.

  • Abel Avellan Company Guidance 00:41:29

    In response to Mike Crawford (B. Riley), said satellites now launching carry all 3GPP frequencies in low-band and mid-band, including the acquired L-band and S-band MSS spectrum, with a plan to interleave low-band and mid-band; said AST is now fully funded to do this and plans to start launching mid-band satellites by the end of next year (2026), aligned with its roadmap for the US, Europe, Japan, and now Saudi Arabia.

  • Abel Avellan Company Guidance 00:43:32

    Clarified that AST always starts service using MNO partner spectrum already present on devices (3GPP bands), consistent with its approach in the US, Europe, and Japan; said the same approach will apply in the Middle East region led by Saudi Arabia via STC, which is targeting commercial service in Q4 2026.

  • Colin Canfield Untagged 00:50:48

    Asked (Cantor Fitzgerald) about AST's supply chain versus the European supply chain given IRIS²-related 2030 targets and antitrust/merger activity among incumbent European satellite suppliers, and about AST's ability to add spectrum bands beyond S-, L-, and C-band.

  • Abel Avellan Company Guidance 00:51:37

    Responded that AST's platform is designed to capture over 1,000 MHz of spectrum tunable across all 3GPP low-band and mid-band frequencies in any country, with near-zero incremental cost since the capability is software-defined; reiterated AST is an American company manufacturing in Midland, Texas with nearly 1,800 employees, but operates globally by partnering with local MNOs who hold local spectrum, sometimes complemented by AST's own spectrum.

  • Abel Avellan Company Guidance 00:53:40

    In response to a follow-up from Colin Canfield about capital allocation toward acquiring more spectrum versus organic investment, reiterated the roughly 80 MHz of US spectrum access (about 50 MHz owned, about 30 MHz combined low/mid-band from operators) versus a typical US market's ~250 MHz of terrestrial spectrum, and said the company's core focus remains manufacturing (about 6 satellites/month, the largest commercial satellites ever launched into LEO), launching, and then combining local MNO spectrum with AST's own spectrum to deliver near-terrestrial broadband quality from space.

Q3 2025 Financial Results and Capital Position

17
  • Andy Johnson Confirmed 00:18:35

    Reported Q3 2025 non-GAAP adjusted operating expenses of $67.7 million versus $51.7 million in Q2 2025, a $16.0 million quarter-over-quarter increase driven by a $7.6 million increase in adjusted engineering service costs, a $5.5 million increase in cost of goods sold, and a $3.8 million increase in adjusted G&A costs, partly offset by a roughly $900,000 reduction in R&D costs; noted about $7.1 million of the increase was non-recurring transaction-related expense tied to the L-band and S-band spectrum transactions, the non-recourse delayed-draw term loan facility, the completed pre-regulatory-approval bridge loan, and standing up the Vodafone joint venture.

  • Andy Johnson Confirmed 00:18:35

    Said Q3 adjusted OpEx came in above prior quarterly guidance in part because that prior guidance excluded cost of goods sold related to gateway sales; excluding the $5.5 million of COGS, run-rate OpEx was $55.1 million, about $5 million above the previously provided run-rate guidance.

  • Andy Johnson Confirmed 00:18:35

    Reported Q3 2025 capital expenditures of approximately $259 million versus $323 million in Q2 2025 — about $231 million of capitalized direct materials/labor for Block 2 BlueBird satellites and multi-launch contract payments, with the balance in facility and production equipment — just below the midpoint of the prior $225-300 million quarterly guidance.

  • Andy Johnson Company Guidance 00:18:35

    Guided Q4 2025 adjusted operating expenses (excluding cost of goods sold) to a similar range in the mid-$60 millions, and Q4 2025 capital expenditures to increase slightly to a range of $275-325 million, primarily driven by the timing of near-term launch payments.

  • Andy Johnson Company Guidance 00:18:35

    Reiterated that average capital costs (direct materials plus launch costs) for the constellation of over 90 Block 2 BlueBird satellites are expected to remain in the range of $21-23 million per satellite, the same range provided since Q1 2025 earnings, subject to fluctuation from geopolitical factors.

  • Andy Johnson Company Guidance 00:18:35

    Said operating a constellation of 25 BlueBird satellites should allow non-continuous space-mobile service in selected target markets and potentially generate operating cash flow from both commercial and US government opportunities; continuous service across markets like the US, Europe, and Japan requires roughly 45-60 satellites, and additional strategic worldwide markets require roughly 90 satellites.

  • Andy Johnson Confirmed 00:18:35

    Reported Q3 2025 GAAP revenue of $14.7 million, primarily from gateway hardware sales and commercial/US government service milestone achievements, and reiterated the company's belief in a 2025 revenue opportunity of $50-75 million, with Q4 revenue expected to be driven by gateway equipment sales, US government milestones, and initial commercial service revenue recognition.

  • Andy Johnson Confirmed 00:18:35

    Said pro forma cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash — inclusive of the October 2025 2.00% convertible notes offering (effective strike price $96.30/share) and currently available ATM liquidity — was approximately $3.2 billion as of September 30, 2025; primary drivers included roughly $1.6 billion of net proceeds from two 2025 convertible note offerings (July and October), approximately $389 million of net proceeds from the 2025 ATM facilities during Q3 and through October, and $74.5 million of proceeds from unwinding the cap call purchased earlier in 2025 in connection with the January 2025 convertible notes.

  • Andy Johnson Confirmed 00:18:35

    Said the company has now converted $410 million of the original $460 million January 2025 4.25% convertible notes due 2032 into 17.3 million Class A shares across three equitization transactions, including another $50 million equitized in October 2025, leaving just $50 million of those notes outstanding; also noted a bridge facility was put in place in October to manage one-time payments related to the Ligado L-band usage-rights transaction ahead of planned funding via the SPV delayed-draw term loan once FCC approval is received.

  • Andy Johnson Company Guidance 00:18:35

    Said the company is now fully funded, given over $3.2 billion of pro forma cash/liquidity, to manufacture and launch a constellation of over 100 satellites for worldwide space-mobile service, and confirmed the company remains on target to begin launching Block 2 BlueBird satellites beginning in December.

  • Rupert Untagged 00:36:24

    Asked (submitted shareholder question, Zurich) why additional capital was raised despite the company confirming it was already fully funded for the full constellation from balance sheet cash and future revenue.

  • Andy Johnson Company Guidance 00:36:36

    Responded that 2025 was a fantastic capital-markets environment, and the company completed its third convertible note deal of the year (January, July, and most recently October), raising net proceeds of a bit over $1 billion at a 2% coupon over a 10-year term — a convertible deal structure not seen in many years. Explained the new capital moves AST from being fully funded for 45-60 satellites to being fully funded for 100+ satellites, enabling worldwide expansion beyond the initial US, Europe, and Japan markets, consistent with the STC announcement.

  • Michael Funk Untagged 00:39:05

    Asked (Bank of America) about the company's appetite for future prepayment deals now that it is fully funded, and for more detail on the structure of prepayment contracts (e.g., core capacity subscriptions).

  • Scott Wisniewski Company Guidance 00:39:55

    Responded that the roughly two-year-old strategy of pursuing a long funnel of 50+ operator agreements (nearly 3 billion subscribers), starting with best-aligned partners and building toward prepayments and long-term revenue commitments, is unchanged; said prepayments are for near-term commercial services while commitments span near-, medium-, and long-term, balanced on a relationship-by-relationship basis.

  • Chris O'Shaw Untagged 00:56:30

    Asked (UBS) whether AST SpaceMobile, now funded for roughly 90-100 satellites, will continue to be opportunistic with additional capital raises heading into 2026, and whether Q4 2025 OpEx/CapEx should be treated as a good run rate for modeling 2026.

  • Scott Wisniewski Company Guidance 00:57:57

    Responded that the company's focus is on the commercial side — prepayments, commitments, and revenue — reiterating expectations for continued revenue growth in Q4 2025 and into 2026 as the reason for recent big commercial announcements and the new revenue-commitment disclosure.

  • Andy Johnson Company Guidance 00:58:20

    Added that the company will always remain opportunistic and open-minded about good capital-markets conditions, now has flexibility to potentially pull launch timing forward, will continue weighing equity versus debt opportunities, and believes the debt markets will open up further as the company progresses; noted OpEx should be a fairly consistent run rate given the workforce has stabilized near 1,800 people, but CapEx will remain volatile quarter to quarter (especially in 2026 with launches roughly every 30-45 days) due to launch-payment timing; said full 2026 OpEx/CapEx guidance will be provided after year-end, toward the end of February or early March 2026.

US Government and Defense Business

3
  • Scott Wisniewski Confirmed 00:12:47

    Said the company's technology continues to garner interest from US defense and government entities for dedicated and dual-use applications, describing the current backdrop as the most positive for US government space investment since the 1960s space race, with no change to that trend despite the ongoing government shutdown; said AST recently received an award as a prime contractor with the US government, subject to final contract negotiations once the government reopens.

  • Chris Quilty Untagged 01:06:24

    Asked (Quilty Space) whether the $1 billion in commitments and the funding for 100 satellites are entirely commercial, and, citing the US Secretary of War's recent speech about contractors needing to commit their own capital, asked whether AST's government programs would more closely follow a dual-use model or a SpaceX Starshield-style vendor-built, government-owned model.

  • Abel Avellan Company Guidance 01:07:15

    Confirmed the $1 billion figure and the 100-satellite funded capacity are commercial, and said AST has long championed the dual-use concept as important to US competitiveness; said the company's government funnel, while substantial, mostly calls for the dual-use model, though it does not rule out occasions requiring tailor-made government-only assets, with dual-use prioritized wherever possible.

EU Constellation, IRIS², and European Strategy

3
  • Brian Kraft Untagged 00:45:35

    Asked (Deutsche Bank) whether the newly announced EU satellite constellation with Vodafone is incremental to the existing 45-60 satellite plan or part of it, and about market talk of AST potentially winning part of the European IRIS² mandate.

  • Abel Avellan Confirmed 00:47:23

    Confirmed that AST is an American company operating globally on a market-by-market, telco-partner basis; said the European reception to the Vodafone SatCo partnership has been strong, with 21 of the top 25 European operators having committed to or expected to be part of the network/constellation with certain European-specific features, and confirmed the EU satellite constellation is part of the existing plan, not incremental to it.

  • Scott Wisniewski Speculation 00:49:42

    Declined to comment on whether AST would be part of the IRIS² program specifically, but said that given AST is already building a multi-capability constellation, the company believes it is very well positioned for any country or customer seeking this capability, citing high marginal economics for adding in-orbit capabilities given its technology, manufacturing, and existing ecosystem.

Path to Continued Constellation Buildout

7
  • Louie DiPalma Untagged 01:00:24

    Asked (William Blair) whether 25 satellites in orbit is a good estimate for supporting beta trials in North America in 2026.

  • Scott Wisniewski Company Guidance 01:00:57

    Confirmed 25 satellites is a fair proxy, plus or minus, for supporting beta trials, noting each operator thinks about it a bit differently.

  • Louie DiPalma Untagged 01:02:20

    Asked about how AST's satellite processing technology recombines disparate AT&T and Verizon spectrum holdings into a cohesive, near-nationwide footprint using roughly 5 MHz, and how that is performing in trials.

  • Abel Avellan Company Guidance 01:02:42

    Said the technology is working very well; the company is planning to be ready for nationwide service early in the year (2026) on an intermittent basis, with intermittency reducing as more satellites are added, combining AT&T and Verizon terrestrial spectrum with AST's own 50 MHz to deliver a near-nationwide service.

  • Scott Siegel Untagged 01:10:23

    Asked (Ross Capital Partners) whether, now funded for 100 satellites, AST will simply continue building through the 90-100+ satellite "phase 2" of the constellation into 2027, or whether there are additional customer-contract milestones that would precede that; also asked how the company thinks about incremental spectrum costs internationally given the Ligado spectrum purchase.

  • Abel Avellan Company Guidance 01:11:13

    Said the architecture is designed to mix AST's own spectrum with operator spectrum across low-band and mid-band, so incremental spectrum cost is marginal to none as long as the spectrum is 3GPP-standard and already in devices.

  • Scott Wisniewski Company Guidance 01:12:36

    Said the satellite-deployment strategy hasn't fundamentally changed: AST commits to capital access where it sees positive NPV growth, which drove the original 45-60 satellite target set about a year ago; with additional capital access and stronger commercial and potential government traction, the company has recalibrated its expectations (part of the rationale for the recent capital raises). Said AST prides itself on being nimble and vertically integrated, able to add incremental improvements (like the upcoming Q1 2026 ASIC) as it goes, is not making rigid multi-year plans, and will continue evaluating growth opportunities on a rolling basis as it has for the last couple of years, seeing "nothing but opportunity" to add more satellites quickly.

Watch Items9

  • BlueBird 6 (FM1) launch from India

    First half of December 2025 Abel Avellan 00:01:59
  • BlueBird 7 shipment to Cape Canaveral and subsequent launch

    Ship later in November 2025; launch shortly after Abel Avellan 00:01:59
  • 5 orbital launches target

    By end of Q1 2026 Abel Avellan 00:01:59
  • 45-60 satellites launched target

    By end of 2026 Abel Avellan 00:01:59
  • AST5000 ASIC integration into Block 2 BlueBird satellites, enabling up to 120 Mbps peak speeds

    Q1 2026 Abel Avellan 00:01:59
  • Intermittent nationwide US service activation, reducing intermittency and progressing to continued service later in the year

    Early 2026 (intermittent), later 2026 (continued) Abel Avellan 01:02:42
  • STC commercial service launch across Saudi Arabia/MENA

    Targeted Q4 2026 Abel Avellan 00:41:29
  • Start of mid-band satellite launches

    By end of 2026 Abel Avellan 00:41:29
  • Full 2026 OpEx and CapEx guidance

    To be provided toward end of February / early March 2026 (next earnings call) Andy Johnson 00:59:08

Open Questions5

  • Will AST SpaceMobile participate in or win any portion of the EU's IRIS² satellite program mandate?

    Brian Kraft 00:45:35
  • What is the average duration and per-contract composition of the disclosed $1 billion-plus in aggregate contracted commercial revenue commitments?

    Louie DiPalma 01:01:09
  • Will Q4 2025 CapEx levels be representative of 2026 spending, or will launch-payment timing continue to create significant volatility?

    Chris O'Shaw 00:59:08
  • Which additional launch vehicle providers, beyond SpaceX, New Glenn, and ISRO, will become available to AST SpaceMobile to ease heavy-lift launch market constraints?

    Chris Quilty 01:08:09
  • Will AST SpaceMobile's growing US government/defense work continue to follow a dual-use commercial model, or will some programs shift toward a SpaceX Starshield-style vendor-built, government-owned model?

    Chris Quilty 01:06:34

Raw Transcript

Show full transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the AST SpaceMobile 3rd quarter 2025 business update call. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your host today, Scott Wisniewski, President of AST SpaceMobile. Please go ahead.
[00:00:18] Speaker B: Thank you, and good afternoon, everyone. Today I'm also joined by Chairman and CEO Abel Avalon and CFO and Chief Legal Officer Andy Johnson. Let me refer you to slide 2 of the presentation, which contains our safe harbor disclaimer. During today's call, we may make certain forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions, and as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements on this call. For more information about these risks and uncertainties, please refer to the risk factors section of AST SpaceMobile's annual report on Form 10-K. for the year that ended December 31st, 2024, Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on May 12th, 2025, Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on August 11th, 2025, and the Form 10-Q filed with the SEC today, as well as other documents filed by AST SpaceMobile from time to time. Also, after our initial remarks, we'll be starting our Q&A section with questions submitted by our shareholders. For those of you who may be new to our company and mission, There are nearly 6 billion mobile phones in use today around the world, but many of us still experience gaps in coverage as we live, work, and travel. Additionally, there are billions of people without cellular broadband and who remain unconnected from the global economy. The markets we are pursuing here are massive, and the problem we are solving is important and touches nearly all of us. In this backdrop, AST SpaceMobile is building the first and only global cellular broadband network in space to operate directly with everyday, unmodified mobile devices. and supported by our extensive IP and patent portfolio. It is now my pleasure to pass the conversation over to Chairman and CEO Abel Avalon, who will go through our activities since our last public update.
[00:01:59] Speaker C: Thank you, Scott. AST SpaceMobile delivered standout progress in the 3rd quarter as we continue seizing the advantages of our leadership position in the space-based direct-to-device industry. We're executing against all of our key initiatives in this rapidly developing market, and especially on deepening our commercial ecosystem with customer partners over the past few months. We continue to build commercial momentum, most recently highlighted by our definitive agreements with Verizon and Saudi Telecom Group. Scott will discuss our business progress in more detail, But I want to highlight the traction we are achieving with our commercial initiatives. We signed a definitive commercial agreement with Verizon in the United States and STC in Saudi Arabia and other key markets across the Middle East and North Africa. These definitive commercial agreements demonstrate the meaningful progress in our commercial ecosystem, which include agreements with over 50 MNO partners with nearly 3 billion subscribers globally. These agreements are the product of our trusted, longstanding relationship with both partners and their confidence in our ability to deliver space-based cellular broadband connectivity to their subscribers. Our definitive commercial agreement with Verizon is an extension of our transformational partnership, which has been cultivated over several years, including the $100 million commercial commitment in May of last year. The agreement also provides us with a formal commercial pathway to provide direct-to-device cellular broadband services to their customers starting in 2026. Our opportunity to bridge the digital divide and target 100% coverage of the continental United States has never been stronger. Together, we partner AT&T in premium 850 MHz, low-band spectrum. Our definitive agreement with STC provides us with a long-term partner in a key region with a large geographical area, significant population growth, and a strong need for broadband connectivity. More broadly, our 10-year long-term agreement is a promising look into how AST SpaceMobile can collaboratively shape the future of direct-to-device mobile connectivity as we continue to grow our mobile network operator partner ecosystem. Our direct-to-device satellite technology enables native cellular broadband capabilities directly to modified mobile devices, including voice, text, data, video, and full internet access to native cellular apps. As an example of our native cellular capability, we recently completed a Bluebird satellite-enabled technology milestone with Verizon. Completing direct voice and video calls, as well as 2-way RCS messaging between standard unmodified smartphones. This follows additional milestones with Bell Canada in anticipation for a broader commercial rollout. Specifically, we showcased Canada's first successful space-based direct-to-cell voice over LTE call, video call, and other broadband data and video streaming activations. We believe Canada will represent another attractive market for our direct-to-device cellular broadband service. Space-based cellular broadband connectivity is an industry that we invented, and a recent technology milestone with Verizon and Bell follows several breakthroughs using our direct-to-device technology, including the first-ever 4G and 5G voice calls, voice over LTE calls, live video calls, streaming, full internet access, and tactical non-terrestrial network connectivity for military and defense purposes, from space to modified smartphones. Our direct-to-device cellular broadband network will help our partners deliver on one of their highest priorities, which is extending connectivity for their customers, as part of our effort to deliver on those priorities. We are advancing partners and ecosystem network integration as we progress towards service activation in key partner markets. Specifically, we have already begun activation in fixed network locations. We expect to continue scaled deployment efforts early next year as we progress activation of an intermittent nationwide service by early 2026 and prepare for continued service later in 2026. Taking a step back, STC PayMobile has now built the largest and most diverse commercial partner ecosystem in the industry. Our network includes agreements and understanding with over 50 MNO partners with nearly 3 billion subscribers globally. We have access to some of the most important markets covered and exposure to billions of subscribers, as well as long-term access to valuable spectrum. a key strategy during 2025 has been to deepen this partner ecosystem through definitive commercial agreements. Today, we're happy to disclose for our first time that we have secured over $1 billion in total contracted revenue commitments from our commercial partners. This represents an incredible snapshot into how our business is developing, and not only do the commitments of our partners have to AST SpaceMobile, but also the way they are starting to think about financial impact of this massive opportunity. Turning to manufacturing and launch, our manufacturing efforts are on track with our goals and expectations. Bluebird 8 to 19 are in various stages of production, and we are on schedule to complete 40 satellites equivalent of Microns by early 2026, bringing us to Bluebird Leveraging our, our 95% vertically integrated manufacturing, we continue to accelerate and improve our manufacturing process and expect to exit calendar 2025 at a manufacturing cadence of 6 satellites per month. A detailed cadence of our 2025 and 2026 deployment plan is shown in the accompanying quarterly presentation found on our IR website. These efforts are supported by our steady expanding manufacturing footprint, soon to be over half a million square feet of manufacturing and operations space, supported by a global workforce of nearly 1,800 people. We have shipped Bluebird 6 to its launch site in India, with launch expected to occur in the first half of December. We also expect to ship Bluebird 7 to Cape Canaveral later this month, with launch anticipated shortly thereafter. Additionally, we continue to space 5 orbital launches by the end of Q1 2026, with launches every 1 to 2 months on average to reach our goal of 45 to 60 satellites launched by the end of 2026. Additionally, we anticipate our novel ASIC chip will be integrated into our Block 2 Bluebird satellite during Q1 2026. enabling peak data transmission speeds of up to 120 Mbps, which is a throughput larger than enough to achieve the native cellular capabilities that customers are used to having, even when they are in areas unconnected by terrestrial networks. On our comprehensive global spectrum strategy, since our last earnings call, we closed our deal to acquire global S-band spectrum priority rights and our deal to acquire long-term access to premium lower mid-band. L-band spectrum in the US that has been approved by the court. AST SpaceMobile owns and chairs spectrum profiles including access to 1,150 MHz of low-band and mid-band tunable MNO spectrum globally, 45 MHz of AST SpaceMobile licensed MSS lower mid-band spectrum, 60 MHz of AST SpaceMobile licensed S-band spectrum priority right, and low-band spectrum allocated by our MNO partners. Between our own and mobile network operator partner spectrum, we have right to access over 80 MHz of paired and high-quality spectrum in the United States alone, more than any other direct-to-device provider today and in the future. We have developed our comprehensive spectrum strategy by balancing costs and a disciplined capital allocation. By making a smart and cost-effective investment in spectrum, we are able to preserve the value of our spectrum assets while protecting the long-term viability of our business. This robust portfolio of spectrum creates a durable competitive advantage for ST SpaceMobile. Spectrum enables us to provide more lanes for direct-to-device cellular broadband services at a faster speed and a greater capacity. And lastly, We strengthened our financial footing significantly in the last few months, reaching over $3.2 billion in cash and liquidity as of quarter end, pro forma for our recent financial transaction and available liquidity under the ATM facility. We continue to fortify our capital base in a responsible way while building long-term shareholder value. As a result of our funding effort, we're now funded from cash on hand to enable continued service in our worldwide key strategic markets. In summary, our manufacturing and launch activities are on plan and our commercial activities are accelerating. We anticipate an active manufacturing and launch cadence for the remaining of 2025 through 2026 as we progress towards our stated goal of 45 to 60 satellites for continued service coverage in key markets like the United States, Europe, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and other key strategic markets like the US government. We're advancing our commercial activities on the growth— on the ground, installing gateways, integrating them into partner networks, and completing key technology demonstrations around the world as we scale our constellation. We have built moats around multiple aspects of our business, including our extensive IP portfolio, with approximately 3,800 patents and patent-pending claims, satellite technology, partner ecosystem, comprehensive global spectrum strategy, and a strong capital base. I could not be more excited for what's come as we continue to ramp commercial activity going into 2026. Let me now turn the call over to Scott to provide more detail on our progress and initiatives.
[00:12:47] Speaker B: Thank you, Abel. We have been making rapid and continuous progress against our key business initiatives. Specifically, the 3rd quarter was marked by milestone achievements as we develop our commercial ecosystem, delivering on our previously stated goals of definitive commercial agreements, non-dilutive service prepayments, and long-term revenue commitments. Most significantly, we are thrilled to announce today for the first time that we have now secured over $1 billion in aggregate contracted revenue commitments from our commercial partners. These revenue commitments have always been integral to our comprehensive capital raising strategy, but also provide a powerful validation of our ecosystem partner strategy, our business model, and the massive size of the direct-to-device market we are creating. For some context, AST SpaceMobile has incredible strategic assets, including our breakthrough technology, vertically integrated manufacturing capabilities, long-term spectrum access, and an ecosystem partner strategy that has set the stage for our commercialization strategy, which is really taking shape. Since our last public update, we signed 2 additional definitive commercial agreements with Verizon and Saudi Telecom Group. These agreements represent years of relationship building and organizational alignment and are the business and legal frameworks through which future services and revenue will flow. These agreements represent a key step in our commercialization journey as we significantly expand our relationship with 2 additional incredible operators pulled from our ecosystem of over 50 leading global mobile network operator partners who collectively cover nearly 3 billion subscribers. This adds to previous definitive commercial agreements signed with AT&T and Vodafone. Our strategy is to continue to sign Similar agreements with more of our top partners on a rolling basis as we prioritize initial global services on the AST SpaceMobile network. As you know, Verizon is a very important partner as we develop the U.S. market and target full geographic coverage of the continental United States. This agreement, of course, builds on the strategic partnership with Verizon announced last year with a $100 million commitment. Together with AT&T, we plan to deploy services next year with 2 of the major US mobile network operators. Moving to Saudi Telecom Group, or STC, this is an innovative leading mobile network operator partner in the Gulf region who we first signed an MOU with in early 2023. This agreement, signed just last month, provides a framework for direct-to-device services across the Middle East and North Africa. Importantly, this agreement also included a prepayment of $175 million to be made by the end of 2025 and a significant long-term commercial revenue commitment. Lastly, we announced our intention to further deepen our ties in Europe through the SatCo joint venture with Vodafone, announcing a constellation of mid-band satellites dedicated for the EU. These satellites will provide a scalable European satellite mobile broadband service for use by mobile network operators, and for the benefit of all European citizens, businesses, and public sector organizations. This step represents further accretive organic growth opportunities available to the AST SpaceMobile platform facilitated by our first mover advantages in space-based cellular broadband, our development of the commercial ecosystem, as well as our recent strong capital markets access to growth capital. Satco, based in Luxembourg, is continuing to scale with key leadership and employee hires, accelerating our commercialization efforts in Europe, with MLUs signed in 21 of 27 member states to date. Linking our strategies back to 3rd quarter performance, we grew to double-digit revenue with approximately $15 million of recognized revenue on the back of milestones in our US government contracts and delivery and installation of gateway equipment. versus approximately $2 million in the prior quarter. This represents continued progress with our US government work and the acceleration of gateway deliveries and installations with our mobile network operator customers in the US and globally. With this progress and our expectations going into year-end, we continue to expect second half 2025 revenue in the range of $50 to $75 million. We also replenished the pipeline of gateway bookings with approximately $14 million in new gateway equipment sales during Q3. And we continue to believe we will book over $10 million of new gateway equipment sales per quarter on average. For a little more detail on our U.S. government business, our breakthrough technology continues to garner interest from many U.S. defense and government entities for both dedicated and dual-use applications. Our differentiated technology and growing list of capabilities across communications and non-communications use cases fits nicely within the framework of the current administration's space and on-orbit plans. This is the most positive backdrop for US government investment in space since the space race of the 1960s. We see no change to this massive trend over the past few months despite the government shutdown. In fact, we recently received an award as a prime contractor with the US government, subject to final contract negotiations when the government reopens. In summary, we continue to ramp our US government efforts as we plan for large contracts going forward. Overall, we are encouraged with our commercialization progress to date and believe our recent achievements across both commercial and government initiatives serve as important signals of our continued positive momentum. I'm now happy to pass the call over to Andy to walk through our financial update.
[00:18:35] Speaker D: Thanks, Scott, and good afternoon, everyone. The progress on commercial objectives, service activation, scaled manufacturing, and launch of our Block 2 Bluebird satellites described by Abel and Scott was complemented by the continued strength and flexibility of our financial position during the 3rd quarter of 2025. This year has been characterized by rapid growth at AST SpaceMobile, The transition from an emerging R&D-focused startup to an operating company on the path to optimizing our manufacturing and launch cadence has been hard, yet invigorating and gratifying work for our now nearly 1,800-person worldwide workforce. The speed at which we are moving across all operational fronts to manufacture and launch a constellation of 45 to 60 Block II Bluebird satellites creates a dynamic financial backdrop that I am pleased to share with you in more detail today. We continue to balance a prudent approach to our spending while moving quickly to protect and capitalize on our first mover advantage of bringing space-based broadband connectivity direct to unmodified smartphones in the rapidly growing direct-to-device market. This intentional focus on investing in our operational growth led to increased operating expenses in Q3, while capital expenditures decreased from the prior quarter as capital commitments ebb and flow as expected from quarter to quarter. Importantly, this quarter marked the start of our revenue ramp, with revenue from commercial hardware sales, services, and contract awards from our U.S. government milestone achievements. Moving to the Operating and Capital Metrics slide, let's review the key operating metrics for the 3rd quarter of 2025. On the first chart, for the 3rd quarter, we incurred non-GAAP adjusted operating expenses of $67.7 million versus $51.7 million in the 2nd quarter. As a reminder, Non-GAAP adjusted operating expenses exclude certain non-cash operating costs, including depreciation and amortization and stock-based compensation. This quarter-over-quarter increase of $16.0 million resulted from a $7.6 million increase in adjusted engineering service costs, a $5.5 million increase in the cost of goods sold, And a $3.8 million increase in adjusted general and administrative costs, which were partially offset by an approximately $900,000 reduction in R&D costs. This variance in adjusted OpEx in Q3 was above the quarterly guidance I provided after the 2nd quarter, due in part to the approximately $7.1 million of non-recurring transaction-related expenses, including our L-BAN and S-band spectrum transactions, the non-recourse senior secured delayed draw term loan facility, and now completed pre-regulatory approval bridge loan, in addition to the continued work of standing up our joint venture with Vodafone, which we launched in the 2nd quarter. The Q3 adjusted operating expenses guidance I gave in our last earnings call did not include any cost of goods sold related to gateway sales. If you compare our Q3 operating expenses on that same basis by excluding the $5.5 million in cost of goods sold, our run rate operating expense would be $55.1 million, which is approximately $5 million more than the run rate guidance for adjusted OpEx previously provided. Turning towards the second chart on this slide, our capital expenditures for the third quarter of 2025 were approximately $259 million versus $323 million for the second quarter of 2025. This figure was made up of approximately $231 million of capitalized direct materials, labor for our Block II Bluebird satellites, and payments made in connection with multiple launch contracts With the balance relating to facility and production equipment expenditures. This amount was just below the midpoint of the quarterly guidance of $225 to $300 million that I provided during our last earnings call. For the 4th quarter of 2025, we estimate that our adjusted operating expenses, excluding cost of goods sold, will come in at a similar range in the mid-$60 millions. As we continue to design, manufacture, launch, and operate our growing satellites constellation, as well as pursue the monetization of our L- and S-band spectrum usage rights. We expect our capital expenditures to increase slightly in Q4 of 2025 as compared to the 3rd quarter to a range of $275 to $325 million, primarily driven by the timing of launch payments related to our near-term launches, which, as I've previously, previously explained, do vary from quarter to quarter. We continue to estimate that the average capital costs, including direct materials and launch costs for our constellation of over 90 Block II BlueBird satellites, will fall in the range of $21 to $23 million per satellite. This is the same range of per-satellite cost that I've provided since our Q1 2025 earnings. Our cost per satellite estimates are subject to fluctuations based on dynamic geopolitical factors which could impact our costs. Within our go-forward OpEx profile, we continue to believe that the operation of a constellation of 25 Bluebird satellites will allow us to enable non-continuous space mobile service in selected targeted geographical markets, and should enable us to potentially generate cash flows from operating activities from both commercial and U.S. government opportunities to further support the buildup of the remaining constellation. As a reminder, the timing of the changes in our adjusted operating expenses and capital expenditures, as I have just described, could be delayed or may not be realized due to a variety of factors. Our revenue ramp began in earnest during the third quarter, and we expect it to continue to grow in Q4. With respect to revenue generation, we believe we can enable continuous space mobile service across key markets such as the United States, Europe, Japan, and other strategic markets with the launch and operation of approximately 45 to 60 Bluebird satellites and additional strategic. worldwide markets with the launch and operation of approximately 90 BlueBird satellites. Further, as we continue to launch and deploy our constellation, we will continue to support U.S. government applications currently ongoing and accelerating as our constellation grows. In the 3rd quarter, we recognized GAAP revenue of $14.7 million, primarily driven by gateway hardware sales, And various commercial and U.S. government service milestone achievements. Additionally, in Q3, we completed initial technical trials with an M&O partner, which revenue will be accounted for as we provide future services. We are reiterating our belief that we have a revenue opportunity for 2025 in the range of $50 to $75 million and expect revenue in Q4 will continue to be driven by gateway equipment sales, achievement of U.S. government milestones, and recognition of initial commercial service revenue. The achievement of our revenue plan remains subject to several contingencies, including one, the successful launch and deployment of Block 2 BlueBird satellites related to U.S. government applications contractual milestone achievements. 2, critical gateway equipment sales to our MNO partners in support of their anticipated commercialization efforts of space mobile service. And 3, service revenues in connection with the activation of our commercial service provided by our existing and planned deployed and operational satellites. There can be no assurances that we will achieve any or all of these objectives, and our actual revenue results Will vary based on a multitude of factors. Finally, on the final chart on the slide, on a pro forma basis, inclusive of cash raised in October via the convertible notes offering with a 2.00% 10-year coupon at an effective strike price of $96.30 per share, and the currently available liquidity under the at-the-market or ATM facility, Our cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash as of September 30, 2025, was approximately $3.2 billion. Primary drivers for this cash increase include execution of 2 convertible notes offerings in July and October for a total of approximately $1.6 billion of net proceeds, approximately $389 million net proceeds raised from the 2025 ATM facilities during Q3, and through October, and the unwinding of the cap call that we purchased earlier this year in connection with the January 2025 convertible note offering for $74.5 million of proceeds to the company. In addition to the work we did raising additional capital via the recent 2% 10-year convertible notes, we also took action since our last earnings call by further reducing our outstanding debt related to the January 2025 convertible notes Due in 2032. Among 3 equitization transactions, including another $50 million equitized in October, we have now converted $410 million of the outstanding $460 million of the 4.25% convertible notes due in 2032 into 17.3 million Class A shares. We now have just $50 million of outstanding notes related to our January 2025 convertible notes due in 2032. I should also mention that subsequent to Q3, in October, we put in place a bridge facility to manage one-time payments related to the Legato L-Band usage rights transaction ahead of planned funding by the SPV delayed draw term loan upon receiving FCC approval. Given the current strength of our balance sheet that now includes cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash and available liquidity under the ATM facility of over $3.2 billion on a pro forma basis as of September 30th, we are fully funded to manufacture and launch a constellation of over 100 satellites to provide worldwide space mobile service. The combination of increasing commercial and government opportunities, rapidly scaling manufacturing and satellite launch operations, and a fortified balance sheet position AST SpaceMobile for an exciting end to 2025. Through the 3rd quarter of 2025, we remain on target to execute against our plans to bring space mobile service to market in the coming periods as we begin to launch our Block 2 Bluebird satellites beginning in December. And with that, this completes the presentation component of our business update call, and I'll pass it back to Scott. Thank you.
[00:31:04] Speaker B: Thank you, Andy. Before we go to the queue of analyst questions, we'd like to address a few of the questions submitted by our investors. Operator, could you please start us off with the first question?
[00:31:15] Speaker C: Kevin from Vancouver asks, What is the difference in processing capacity between Block II FPGA satellites and Block II ASICs? Hi, Kevin. That's a great question. Listen, we have been improving on tenfold steps our processing capacity for the satellites. We started with 100 MHz on BlueWalker 3, which by the way is still working and functioning. Then to upgrade it to 1 GHz, which is the current, so a tenfold increase with the current satellites that are currently in orbit and in operations. And then the one that we're starting to launch immediately here have another increase factor of 10 GHz, going up to 10 GHz from 9 GHz. So another 10 times factors. When you combine the processing capacity that we have on the satellites with AI, with the AI engine that we're developing to basically managing very efficiently the spectrum allocation of both power and bandwidth, this is the way that we do the true broadband connectivity from space. And for that, we develop our own chip. We call it the AST-5000. that had a processing capacity to 10 GHz with enhanced features to take the most of that 10 GHz using our AI engines.
[00:32:46] Speaker A: Alvin from Massachusetts asks, as a forward-looking investor, I would like to know if the company is weighing the benefits of AI for its spectrum management.
[00:33:01] Speaker C: Hi, Alvin. We are more than waiting to benefit, we're working on it. We are implementing our AI engine for managing and administrating the spectrum. Each satellite had a capacity of 10 GHz processing bandwidth, but we feel that effectively we multiply that by several factors by effectively managing the allocation of spectrum and resources dynamically across the network using AI. And that's something that we've been working for a while. Thus, the system and the satellite have already been designed to have all the hooks and all the management capability to take the maximum benefits of AI on spectrum management. When you think about that, in average, terrestrial operators have per market in countries like United States, maybe around 250 megahertz to deploy spectrum between our own spectrum and spectrum provided by the operators. Just in the United States alone, we have access to around 80 megahertz, or we will have access to around 80 megahertz of spectrum. 50 to be our own. And then you add an AI, our AI engine to basically multiply that spectrum and make it much more efficient. This is a very significant new leg of the telco stack. So we see a world where you have Wi-Fi, terrestrial, and now with the amount of capacity and spectrum that we can manage with our satellites, and our AI engine to basically effectively use that spectrum, we believe that the usage of satellites becomes more and more and more relevant as we add satellites and as we add spectrum to the system.
[00:35:05] Speaker A: Kevin from Oregon asks, with the next series of launches starting possibly next month at Cape Canaveral, I have been wondering if Thanks, Kevin, for the question.
[00:35:26] Speaker B: As you can tell from the topics on this call, you know, we're very, very much in a commercial mindset at this point and moving towards service delivery. But nonetheless, the launch campaign is very exciting and we're very excited as well. We just shipped BlueBird 6. We're getting ready to ship Bluebird 7, and the rest of the Bluebirds are starting to come out of the factory. So we're very excited about the launch campaign. It's going to be a fantastic stretch of launches. And just like with our last launch where we had about 1,000 retail investors, we plan to invite as many as we can to the launch and each of the launches. So it's going to be a great campaign. We're super thrilled. And you know, 5 launches before the end of Q1 2026 and our 45 to 60 satellites during 2026. There's going to be a lot of opportunities for retail to come see, and we hope everybody comes along to participate on this journey with us.
[00:36:24] Speaker A: Rupert from Zurich asks, despite confirming fully funded for a full constellation through balance sheet cash and future revenue, why was additional capital raised?
[00:36:36] Speaker E: I'll take that.
[00:36:36] Speaker D: This is Andy. Rupert, thank you for the question. It's clear that 2025 has been a fantastic opportunity for AST to access the capital markets. It's been a great climate for that. And as you point out, we recently completed our 3rd convertible note deal of the year, the first in January, the second in July, and the 3rd one just recently last month. This was an incredible transaction for us in strengthening the balance sheet. As a reminder, we were able to raise net proceeds of a little over $1 billion at a 2% coupon with a 10-year term, a convertible note deal that hasn't been done in many, many years. So we're very happy with that result. The opportunity was there. And importantly, you point out, Rupert, that it is true, and we talked about it at the last earnings call, That we were previously fully funded for a constellation of 45 to 60 satellites. What this additional financing does is it provides us the ability to move faster with more flexibility on the balance sheet to go beyond those initial markets of the US, Europe, Japan, and others that we talked about at 45 to 60, and to look worldwide in our coverage at a constellation of now being fully funded at 100+ satellites. So consistent with our STC announcement, we are looking and working hard on commercial opportunities in other strategic markets across the world, and our balance sheet is now fortified to provide a runway to manufacture and launch satellites to support that worldwide constellation base.
[00:38:23] Speaker E: Thank you.
[00:38:26] Speaker B: And with that, I'd like to thank our shareholders for submitting those questions. Operator, let's open the call to analyst questions now.
[00:38:35] Speaker A: Thank you. We will now be conducting a question and answer session. If you'd like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star 2 to remove yourself from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up the handset before pressing the star keys. Our first question comes from the line of Michael Funk with Bank of America. Please proceed with your question.
[00:39:05] Speaker F: Yeah.
[00:39:05] Speaker G: Hi.
[00:39:05] Speaker H: Good evening.
[00:39:05] Speaker F: Thank you for the questions tonight. Congratulations on the funding activity during the quarter and the fully funded status. So, you know, I wanted to tie that back to the comments on the prepayments and the billion-dollar contract to date. So, you know, what is your appetite or thoughts on future prepayment deals with customers, on the commercial financial benefits to signing these now that you are fully funded? And then maybe part B to the question, if I could, you know, any more broad detail around those prepayment contracts, you know, whether they're core capacity subscribers, any details on the broad terms would be helpful.
[00:39:52] Speaker B: Hey, Michael, it's Scott here.
[00:39:55] Speaker F: So, oh, hey, Scott.
[00:39:56] Speaker E: Our strategy—
[00:39:57] Speaker B: hey, how you doing? Can you hear me okay?
[00:39:59] Speaker F: I can. Thank you.
[00:40:01] Speaker I: Great.
[00:40:02] Speaker B: So our strategy for about 2 years now has been to pursue Our very long funnel of agreements, right? We have 50+ agreements with operators globally and who have nearly 3 billion subscribers. So the strategy has been start with our best partners who are most aligned, build out those relationships, build out those agreements, and bring in prepayments and long-term capital, long-term revenue commitments. So that strategy is unchanged. I think clearly we have demonstrated access to the capital markets, but signing up these agreements with prepayments and commitments is still very much our strategy, and we'll balance all those factors appropriately. The way to think about them is relatively simple. You know, prepayments are for commercial services in the near term, and the commitments can be near-term, medium-term, long-term, and we balance each of those appropriately. on each relationship and each situation as appropriate. But the strategy is really unchanged. We think it's playing out well, and we're going to continue it.
[00:41:12] Speaker F: Great. Thank you guys so much.
[00:41:13] Speaker A: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Mike Crawford with B. Riley Securities. Please proceed with your question.
[00:41:29] Speaker F: Um, thank you.
[00:41:30] Speaker C: When do you start manufacturing L-band satellites? Do you intend to put L-band and S-band on the same satellites? And also, will you await formal FCC approval before starting to make those? Hey Mike, how are you? Um, we plan to have a start— well, first of all, when we launch These satellites, they have all the 3GPP frequencies either in the low band or the mid band, including all the MSS band, the L and the S that we had acquired. Our plan is to interleave them between the low band and the mid band. Now we're fully funded for doing that. And our plan is to start launching mid band satellites by the end of next year. We want that to be in line with the roadmap that we have for in the US, Europe, and Japan, and now Saudi Arabia. And as we said, we want to use this capital to basically grow more globally in both operator spectrum and our own spectrum. and be able to combine in the network both in order to facilitate 120 megabits per second basically everywhere that we deploy both our bands and the operator bands. Okay, thank you, Abel. And just a follow-up to that is your Saudi Telecom agreement, you anticipate to launch commercial services in the 4th quarter of '26. So But I don't think you specified over what spectrum. And then the other part to that is if there were— if I heard that there's additional service revenue commitments on top of the $175 million prepaid.
[00:43:31] Speaker G: Thank you.
[00:43:32] Speaker C: I'll ask Scott to explain how the agreement with FTC works, but we are always starting with operator spectrum available in every device. So We focus on using spectrum that is 3GPP, that is already on devices. And that's how we're starting with FTC and all our partners here in the US, in Europe, in Japan. We'll be no different in the Middle East region led by Saudi Arabia.
[00:44:05] Speaker B: And— On the commitments, so, you know, we put forward this new disclosure, Mike, this quarter of over a billion of commitments. And those are not soft commitments. Those are designed to be very valuable to us and very indicative of future expectations and very valuable both in the debt context and also as guidance to the equity market. So when we say we have over a billion of revenue commitments, those are very hard commitments. And so we purposely put that out and we're not gonna identify that with individual customers or individual contracts, but I would point you to the STC press release. We did mention that there was a prepayment and then also a long-term revenue commitment. So we're not gonna map that to individual contracts going forward, but it is our strategy and And we'll provide updates from time to time as appropriate. But very importantly, we're now over $1 billion in total, which is a good outcome for us in line with our strategy. And we think consistent with the customer excitement about us and our customer excitement about putting this product into their customer hands.
[00:45:20] Speaker F: Great. Thank you very much.
[00:45:28] Speaker A: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Brian Kraft with Deutsche Bank. Please proceed with your question.
[00:45:35] Speaker I: Hi, I had a few if I could. First, I know that you reiterated your launch timing guidance in terms of the number of launches you're targeting by the end of 1Q and the end of next year. It seems like the launch timeline though has become a bit more compressed with some delays, you know, at the front end this summer and into the fall. Just with that in mind, I wanted to ask you about your confidence in achieving the 5 launches by the end of 1Q and the 60 satellites by the end of next year. Is there any more risk now on that timeline from your perspective? And then separately, I wanted to ask you about the EU satellite constellation announcement. Are these satellites incremental to the plan or are they part of the existing— 60 satellites by the end of next year? And if they are incremental, can you talk about the timing for launching them and what the CapEx and funding implications are? And then lastly, related to that, there's been some talk in the market about AST winning part of the IRIS² mandate in Europe. Is that something that is happening? Is that real or is that just noise in the market?
[00:46:48] Speaker B: Thanks so much.
[00:46:49] Speaker C: Okay, Brian, I will try to set the question in 3 parts. Let me start with the launch, and I want to start with where are we with manufacturing. So by early 2026, Q1, first part of Q2, we will have 40 satellites built. So we are at 19, satellite 19 at the moment. And we are at a pace of 6 satellites a month starting in December. And that matched very well with the launches that we had already financially committed. And we are in the manifest of our partners, our launch partners to take them, starting the one in India mid-December. and then following the launches from the Cape to add up to the 5 launches by the end of Q1. So we feel very confident on our launch campaign. This has been the culmination of our roadmap where we now have the ability to start launching by Q1 also our 10 GHz satellites that we We plan to take the maximum out of them in the way that we manage that 10 GHz processing bandwidth per satellite. So we feel very comfortable there. As it relates to your question in Europe, I mean, we are an American company that operates globally. And as such, we're at market by market. Our go-to-market is exclusively through the partners and telcos that we operate with, I mean, including European markets. If you see the reception of what we're doing in Europe, jointly with Vodafone, it has been incredible. 21 of the 25 top operators in Europe have basically committed or expected to be part of the network and the constellation. that we are building as part of our constellation, but with certain features for the European MNOs. And then that's really, you know, that does add up to the 50+ agreements that we have globally, reaching us over 3 billion subscribers that we can reach through the agreements that we have globally.
[00:49:23] Speaker I: So, Abel, just to clarify then, so you're saying that the satellites for this constellation are part of the existing plan, they're not incremental, is that correct?
[00:49:39] Speaker C: That's correct.
[00:49:41] Speaker F: Okay.
[00:49:42] Speaker I: And then can you comment at all on the, just the talk about IRIS² and whether AST might be part of that? Seems like it, you could be well positioned for it, you know, given this announcement today or over the weekend.
[00:49:59] Speaker B: Yeah, we don't, we don't want to comment on, you know, new contract awards or anything like that, but, you know, given that we are already building a constellation with multiple capabilities, we think we're very well positioned for, for any, any, any country or any customer that's looking to get this capability, right? The incremental ability for us and the marginal economics for us to build out additional capabilities in orbit is very high, given our tech, given our manufacturing, given our existing ecosystem we've created. So I think we're very well positioned for opportunities like that. But Brian, we're not going to comment on any new contracts right now.
[00:50:36] Speaker I: Certainly understood.
[00:50:37] Speaker C: Thank you so much.
[00:50:41] Speaker A: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Colin Canfield with Cantor Fitzgerald. Please proceed with your question.
[00:50:48] Speaker C: Hey, thank you for the question.
[00:50:53] Speaker G: Appreciating the sensitivity in terms of kind of Iris commentary, but maybe just talking about kind of your supply chain versus the European supply chain. I think when investors kind of saw the 2030 targets around Iris and some of the recent headlines in terms of kind of antitrust and mergers between kind of the We'll say the existing supply chain folks for that domain, it's pretty obvious that that sort of like back and forth is going to limit their capability. So maybe without mentioning IRIS, if you could maybe talk about kind of how you think about your aperture for additional bands and leveraging the economies of scale that you have to do more than just S, L, and C-band.
[00:51:37] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, well, first of all, our platform, it is designed to basically capture over 1,000 MHz of spectrum that can be tuned across all 3GPP bands in the low band and the mid band. So we basically designed our network where we can take any band in any country, as long as it's 3GPP, as long as it's in the devices, we can tune into it. So, and our incremental cost for that is practically zero because that is all software defined. In terms of we will manufacture or who we are, we are an American company. We manufacture in the United States. We're based in Midland, Texas, but we operate globally. So we're in the business of partnering with MNOs, which are local, are in their local jurisdictions. We partner with them. They provide the spectrum. Sometimes we bring our own spectrum and complement that in order to deliver the best experience possible in the future for the end user device that basically no matter what phone they're using, they get 120 megabits per second from space. So that's really who we are. That was our strategy. We're Americans, we're based here. We announced we had over 1,800 people working on our system. But yeah, obviously we're going to look very aggressively all around the globe to add spectrum that is in local jurisdictions that is managed by local regulators and partner with local MNOs to offer the best of our services to each of the customers. So, but I wanted to make it clear where, you know, our focus is. We're an American company that operates in America.
[00:53:40] Speaker G: Got it. Got it. And as we think about kind of the sizing of the war chest that AST has put together that tracks, you know, kind of roughly in terms of cash on hand to some of the legacy satellite communications debt levels, How do you think about kind of going out and acquiring either future spectrum or even something that might kind of get you closer to free cash flow positive sooner? And how do you think about kind of that potential takeout versus investing organically and essentially kind of taking business away through your own investment in IP?
[00:54:15] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, at the core of our strategy is partnering with the MNOs. The MNOs in United States, we had access to around 80 MHz of spectrum, call it 50 of our own and another 30 in combination of low-band and mid-band spectrum available for us. So that's, we believe, is significant amount, especially when you start applying AI techniques to maximize it and make it more efficient. If you take in consideration roughly by market, and roughly each market in the United States have around 250 MHz of terrestrial deployed spectrum, and we had access to around 80 for satellite, you can see that that's a very significant portion. So we feel that we're very equipped to globally compete. So that's why we acquired the 50 MHz in the United States. We have priority rights for another 60 in the United States. We're partnering with the global MNO ecosystem in Europe for Europe. So, you know, our focus is launching satellites, building satellites, which we are now at a rate that we feel proud and it meets our business need, which is around 6 per month of the largest satellites ever launched. Into Leo. We're doing that. We're breaking a world record every time that we take a satellite out of the factory. It's the largest ever launched. So that's our primary focus, manufacturing. Second to that is launching them. And third to them is bring this service globally with a combination of local spectrum from the MNO and our own. to basically offer the broadband experience as close as possible to terrestrial by using space. Got it.
[00:56:16] Speaker G: Thank you for the clarity.
[00:56:16] Speaker A: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Chris O'Shaw with UBS. Please proceed with your question.
[00:56:30] Speaker G: Great. Thank you. I just wanna follow up on the funding progress. I recognize that you were saying you're fully funded, I believe, for 90 satellites in your queue, but will you continue to be opportunistic and how should we think about additional capital raises as we go into 2026? And then thank you for the color on the 4Q OpEx and CapEx. Just given the ramp in Block 2 production into '26, should we view 4Q as a good run rate when modeling out next year, or will the timing of the launch payments cause spending to fluctuate?
[00:56:57] Speaker F: Thanks.
[00:56:57] Speaker B: Hey, Chris, I'll take the first part and then Andy can take the second part. So in terms of, you know, fund flows, I guess is the best way to think about it. You know, I would look to the model on the commercial side and the comments we've made earlier in the call where we're laser-focused on bringing in commercial prepayments, commercial commitments, and ultimately commercial revenue as soon as possible. You know, we've reiterated our expectations on revenue in Q4 and going into 2026, we certainly expect continued growth. So we are very, very focused on the commercial side, which is why you saw the big announcements in the last month or so and the new disclosure on commitments for this call. And so that's definitely our focus. We thought the moment was right to continue to build the cash balance and accelerate timelines and and run towards the growth opportunity. But in terms of our focus and our energy and where we're going to spend our time, it's 100% with customers and the prepayments and commitment strategy is the right one.
[00:58:06] Speaker C: And on launch?
[00:58:07] Speaker E: Yeah, I would just add that, you know, as Scott said, the focus is commercial. I mean, we're always going to be opportunistic and open-minded about good capital markets.
[00:58:20] Speaker C: Of course.
[00:58:21] Speaker E: But, you know, given where we are now, we have the flexibility to perhaps pull launch forward as opportunity allows. And we'll be prudent about that, continue to kind of weigh opportunities on the equity side. We also look at attractive things on the debt side. We believe that market will open up a little bit as we progress. So it's, you know, our priority is the commercial aspects of the business now, and we'll continue to give good thought. But I spend my time thinking about how to prudently deploy that capital that we've now raised on the balance sheet.
[00:58:58] Speaker F: Great.
[00:58:58] Speaker K: Thank you.
[00:58:58] Speaker G: And I can just follow up on the 4Q OpEx and CapEx. Is that a good run rate when we start thinking about next year, or can that be a little volatile?
[00:59:08] Speaker D: It'll be a little volatile.
[00:59:09] Speaker E: I think on OpEx, it's pretty darn close because we've been growing so dynamically as the years progressed. And we're at a stage now, as Abel and I've said, at close to 1,800 employees and workforce. And so that OpEx feels pretty good and consistent. On the CapEx side, it's going to ebb and flow. We've been roughly in that close range the last couple quarters, but as we get closer to launch, and clearly '26 is closer to consistent cadence over every 30, 45 days, We'll have some spikes and some lulls and when launch payments are due. I think what our plan is on that though is, you know, we've told you how we feel in Q4 and we're halfway through that quarter, so we have good visibility. And then we'll come out after the year and give you an outlook on '26 holistically, both on OpEx and CapEx when we talk again toward the end of February, early March.
[01:00:07] Speaker G: Hey, great. Thank you very much.
[01:00:14] Speaker A: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Louie DiPalma with William Blair. Please proceed with your question.
[01:00:24] Speaker J: Well, Scott and Andy, congrats on the Verizon and SDC definitive contracts.
[01:00:33] Speaker B: Thanks a lot. Really appreciate it.
[01:00:39] Speaker J: Do you think that the number that Andy cited, having 25 satellites in orbit, is a good estimate for the number to support beta trials in North America in 2026?
[01:00:57] Speaker B: Yeah, no, that's right, Louis. You know, each operator thinks about these things a little bit differently, but But yeah, we think that that's a fair proxy, plus or minus.
[01:01:09] Speaker J: Great. And also, thanks for the color on the $1 billion in contracted revenue commitments. Is that for the 3 definitive commercial agreements? And are you able to disclose the average duration of the revenue commitments? I think the STC deal was for 10 years. Is it appropriate to assume that the others were of similar duration?
[01:01:37] Speaker B: So we're not going to give up, you know, an average duration, but I would say it does vary. When you look at the contracts we've signed, they've been as long as 5, 6, 10 years, right? So each of the contracts is a little different and The revenue commitment number that we disclosed, it is primarily with the definitive agreements, but there is, you know, some others in other binding agreements as well. So that's how to think about it. It's going to vary, but it's a decent mix of short-term, medium-term, and long-term, and structured well for the company.
[01:02:20] Speaker J: Thanks, Scott. And In the past, you have discussed how your satellite processing tech can recombine the disparate spectrum holdings from AT&T and Verizon to create a cohesive, near-nationwide footprint for approximately 5 MHz. How is that technology working in trials?
[01:02:42] Speaker C: No, it is working very well. We are planning to be ready for nationwide service early in the year on an intermittent basis. The level of intermittency will reduce drastically as we keep adding satellites. But you are correct, our satellite have enough flexibility that we were able to take spectrum from AT&T, spectrum from Verizon, combine it up and make a nationwide service or near nationwide service. And that will be combined with our 50 MHz. And our technology has the ability to pick and choose terrestrial spectrum combined with satellite spectrum and offer that as a package to the end user.
[01:03:35] Speaker J: Excellent. So your technology can combine the mobile satellite spectrum spectrum in addition to the AT&T and Verizon spectrum?
[01:03:46] Speaker D: Correct.
[01:03:50] Speaker G: Great.
[01:03:51] Speaker J: Thanks, Abel, and thanks, Scott and Handy.
[01:03:53] Speaker A: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Greg Pandy with ClearStreet. Please proceed with your question.
[01:04:03] Speaker C: Hey guys, thanks for taking my question.
[01:04:06] Speaker F: Just a real quick one.
[01:04:07] Speaker C: Given the MNO momentum that you with SDC and Verizon. I guess your 50 MNOs represent roughly 3 billion subs. If I'm not mistaken, the market or the TAM's probably 5.6 billion. Just can you talk about, given your partnership model, about how many large MNO opportunities are left out there in the market?
[01:04:31] Speaker G: Thanks.
[01:04:31] Speaker I: Sure.
[01:04:35] Speaker C: Hey, Greg.
[01:04:36] Speaker B: So we, the interesting thing about how we've approached the market and how we've built the company is that we're very favorable to M&Os. We've structured our technology, our network, our go-to-market strategy, even our cap stack, right? Even the investors, it's very favorable intentionally towards our customer, the operator. So as we've built the ecosystem over the last 5 to 10 years, it's really been around who's most aligned, who's most forward-thinking. And as we get closer to service, there's less forward-thinking and it's more that everybody feels that they need this capability. So we have this fascinating dynamic where we're not really constrained by historical relationships or operators that want to work with us. We find pretty much nearly all the operators in the world, if not all, you know, want to work with us and want to learn more and want to participate. So we're going to continue to harvest that base for good contracts for the company, for the initial markets that we deploy, and then grow that base into the medium tail and the long tail as we grow. So I think in terms of big MNO opportunities, It's, it's, it's, we've chosen not to do business in China or Russia, but, and other, you know, smaller restricted countries. But other than that, you know, most operators are good candidates and have some level of dialogue with us, and we're going to continue to pursue those opportunities.
[01:06:13] Speaker C: That's very helpful. Thanks.
[01:06:18] Speaker A: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Chris Quilty with Quilty Space. Please proceed with your question.
[01:06:24] Speaker K: Thanks, guys. Maybe a more nuanced question than Louie about the billion-dollar commitments. Is that all commercial or is that a combination of commercial and government?
[01:06:34] Speaker B: That's all commercial.
[01:06:37] Speaker C: Great.
[01:06:40] Speaker K: And maybe to follow on, I mean, you're capitalized now for 100 satellites. Again, I'm assuming that that's all for the commercial side. Obviously, Secretary of the Department of War Hegseth's speech Friday indicating that contractors are gonna have to, you know, commit their own capital to getting things done, or is it fair to assume that most of the programs you're working on will be more in the sort of SpaceX Starshield model of vendor-built and operated, government-owned?
[01:07:15] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, we have been a big proponent for a long time for the government for the dual-use concept. Basically, we believe that to maintain competitiveness for United States, the ability to combine commercial usage with government usage is paramount. And so we basically, our funnel with the government, which is very substantial, it called for that model. So we don't discard that it will be occasions that we will manufacture certain assets tailor-made to the government, but we're prioritizing the dual use.
[01:08:06] Speaker G: Interesting.
[01:08:09] Speaker C: in every opportunity that we have.
[01:08:10] Speaker K: Great. And final question just on the launch. When will you give us some visibility on specific launch vehicles, you know, as we approach the launch dates? Obviously, the heavy lift market is extremely constrained. And, you know, I watched in the last week both, you know, Blue Origin and ULA delay and delay. SpaceX is really the only operator out there that's launching on a regular cadence. You know, it's a tight market at current time, and are you expecting other launch vehicles to become available?
[01:08:46] Speaker C: We're expecting other launch vehicles to become available, but our current existing and immediate launch campaign, it is using the regular suspects, SpaceX, New Glenn, ISRO. And, uh, there are new, new capacity coming up from, from, from other operations like NHI, and that, that, uh, that are available to us. But the immediate launches are around American launches here in the US.
[01:09:22] Speaker K: Gotcha. And are you still aiming for the same sort of You know, 3 to 4 Bluebirds per Falcon 9, I think 8 per New Glenn. And are there things that you're doing or can do in order to increase the number of satellites per launch vehicle, either in mass or dispenser design or other tricks?
[01:09:47] Speaker C: Yeah, that is correct. I mean, we basically can go at a W speed. in terms of number of satellites per launch with the New Glenn platform than we can with the SpaceX platform. But yes, it's at full capacity, it's 8 in the New Glenn and around 3 in the Falcon 9.
[01:10:08] Speaker K: Very good. Well, looking forward to the next one. Thank you.
[01:10:13] Speaker A: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Scott Siegel with Ross Capital Partners, please proceed with your question.
[01:10:23] Speaker H: Hey, good afternoon.
[01:10:25] Speaker C: Thanks for taking the questions.
[01:10:27] Speaker H: Maybe just a couple of quick follow-ups and clarifications. Now that you're funded up to 100 satellites and the initial phase of the constellation of 45 to 60 gets you to commercialization in the key developed markets, should we expect that you're just gonna continue to roll through to build up to the 90 to 100+ satellites in terms of, I'll call it phase 2 of the constellation as we go into 2027? Or are there some other milestones to be thinking about in terms of customer contracts or otherwise, that'll be a precursor to that happening. And also as part of that, from a spectrum standpoint, you had a very astute buy of the Legato spectrum in North America. I know you have access in international markets, but there are some other costs that come along with that. I wonder if you could just frame for us kind of how you're conceptually thinking about incremental spectrum costs going forward, particularly in international markets.
[01:11:13] Speaker K: Thanks.
[01:11:13] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, the The architecture is basically designed to basically mix and match our own spectrum with operator spectrum and tune all across the low-band and mid-band spectrum. So basically our cost of incremental spectrum is marginal. It doesn't cost us more on the platform to activate additional spectrum. So that's what makes it very attractive. We can partner with B700 in certain jurisdictions and in another one we are in the mid-band in combination with their own spectrum. So our incremental call for additional spectrum is marginal to none. As long as 3GPP spectrum and as long as in devices. And our strategy is always starting broadband services, Great.
[01:12:18] Speaker H: And just a clarification in terms of your continued launch cadence, if you will, once we get to 60 satellites, or the milestones that you're thinking about, or any sort of color you could add in terms of the continued expansion of the global constellation.
[01:12:32] Speaker F: Thanks.
[01:12:33] Speaker H: Sure.
[01:12:36] Speaker B: Our strategy on satellite deployment hasn't really changed either, right? You know, our strategy has been as we have capital access and as we see positive NPV growth, we're gonna commit to it. And so that was the driver behind how we announced and have thought about the 45 to 60 satellite target that we put in place a year or so ago. And With further access to capital and frankly further traction faster and more attractively on the operator side and potentially the government side as well, we've recalibrated those expectations and that's part of what's behind the capital we've raised. So where do we go from here? How do we continue to build those out? We pride ourselves on being very nimble. Remember, we're vertically integrated. We can put incremental improvements into our constellation as we go, like with the ASIC to come in Q1. And so we're going to continue to move that way. We are not making multi-year planning decisions. We're pivoting and moving quickly. And as we see things move and we see opportunities, we're going to pivot quickly. But for us at this point, we see nothing but opportunity. see nothing but growth. So we're racing towards more satellites fast. And so that's how we're thinking about it, Scott, is there's no real holdup on us for continuing to build, but we're gonna evaluate growth opportunities on a rolling basis. And that's what you've seen us do the last couple years.
[01:14:10] Speaker F: Great. Thanks so much.
[01:14:13] Speaker A: Thank you. And we have reached the end of the question and answer session, and I'll now turn the call back over to Scott Wozniewski for closing remarks.
[01:14:26] Speaker G: Thank you, operator.
[01:14:27] Speaker B: We want to thank all of our shareholders and the analysts for joining the call. We look forward to providing more updates soon, so please stay tuned. Thank you. Bye.
[01:14:35] Speaker A: And ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference, and you may disconnect your lines at this time. We thank you for your participation.

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