AST SpaceMobile lost BlueBird 7 after New Glenn 3 launch on April 19

AST SpaceMobile confirmed it lost the BlueBird 7 satellite after Blue Origin's New Glenn 3 rocket inserted it into a lower-than-planned orbit during the April 19 launch. AST SpaceMobile said the altitude reached was not sufficient for BlueBird 7 to maintain orbit using its onboard propulsion, and the satellite will re-enter the atmosphere.

AST SpaceMobile said BlueBird 7 separated and activated without incident after launch, but it did not have enough altitude for its thrusters to correct the situation. The company said it expects to recover the satellite's cost through insurance. BlueBird 7 had an approximately 223 square meter array and was designed to deliver data speeds above 120 Mb/s. AST SpaceMobile said the satellite includes more than 3,800 patented or patent-pending technologies and that this satellite generation is designed to support full 4G and 5G broadband, including voice, data and video services.

The lost spacecraft would have been AST SpaceMobile's eighth low Earth orbit satellite in its direct-to-device, or D2D, network. AST SpaceMobile said production now extends through BlueBird 32, and BlueBird 8 through 10 will be ready for shipment from its Texas facilities in about 30 days. The company said it plans rocket launches every one to two months during 2026 through agreements with multiple providers and continues to target about 45 satellites in orbit before the end of the year. Mobile World Live reported that AST SpaceMobile had previously relied mainly on SpaceX Falcon 9 launches before using the higher-capacity New Glenn for diversification, while analysts Chris Quilty of Quilty Space and Tim Farrar of TMF Associates said Blue Origin could face launch delays after this first commercial New Glenn mission.