WASHINGTON \u2014 Amid a constrained launch market, satellite operators are increasingly emphasizing to investors and customers that they have lined up launch capacity, even if it is uncertain when those vehicles will be available.<\/p>\n
In second-quarter earnings calls over the last week, several companies noted they had secured launches, in some cases two years into the future, for upcoming satellites amid an industrywide scramble to secure access to space.<\/p>\n
Among those companies is AST SpaceMobile, which is deploying a broadband direct-to-device constellation. Deployment of that constellation was slowed by the May 28 explosion of a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket, which AST said days later would delay the start of commercial service by three to six months<\/a>, into the first half of 2027.<\/p>\n In an Aug. 10 earnings call, company executives said they have sufficient launches booked to complete that deployment, which involves placing about 45 satellites into orbit. Counting its five first-generation BlueBird satellites, the company has 12 satellites in orbit, including six launched on two Falcon 9 missions on June 17 and Aug. 5.<\/p>\n The company referred to a slide in its presentation<\/a> that showed what it called a \u201cdetailed cadence of our deployment plan,\u201d showing nine more launches to complete that initial constellation. The plan, though, did not include launch dates but instead when the satellites would be completed, with the satellites for the final launch slated for completion in February 2027. The satellites launched on the recent Falcon 9 missions were completed the month before they were launched.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have 10 launches booked with two different providers, and we\u2019re targeting a cadence of every month or two on average,\u201d said Scott Wisniewski, president of AST SpaceMobile, during the call.<\/p>\n Those launches, for the near future, will likely be on Falcon 9 vehicles as New Glenn remains grounded. While Blue Origin is working to rebuild its Cape Canaveral launch pad and return to flight by the end of the year, AST SpaceMobile is not counting on using New Glenn this year.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re targeting this year. We\u2019re not betting on that necessarily,\u201d Wisniewski said. \u201cWe\u2019ll be happy if they do it, but we\u2019re not betting on that in our numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n He said that \u201cwith a mix of launches, we think we can get to early 2027 for our initial 45 satellites.\u201d However, that will require some New Glenn launches, as Falcon 9 can carry only three BlueBird satellites at a time versus up to eight on New Glenn.<\/p>\n