10 Stocks Stealing The Spotlight Today

6. AST SpaceMobile Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)

AST SpaceMobile jumped by 16 percent on Wednesday to close at $56.94 apiece as investors cheered the kickstart of its next-generation satellite launch campaign.

In a social media post late Tuesday, AST SpaceMobile Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) said that it is now in preparations for the official launch of the BlueBird 6 satellite, following the successful completion of its final assembly and testing. It is set to ship to India on October 12 for launch.

BlueBird 6 will be followed by the BlueBird 7 satellite, which AST SpaceMobile Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) targets to ship to the Cape Canaveral launch site in Florida, also this month.

Meanwhile, BlueBirds 8 to 16 are in various stages of production, with launches planned every 1 to 2 months on average for this year until 2026.

AST SpaceMobile Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) is targeting to complete 40 phased arrays by early 2026 to bring its BlueBird satellites to 46 in total.

Meanwhile, it targets to bring up to 60 satellites in orbit by the end of next year.

“We have partnered with 50+ mobile network operators serving nearly 3 billion subscribers, supported by a flexible spectrum strategy blending our own licensed spectrum with partner spectrum. These BlueBirds will be the largest commercial satellites ever deployed in LEO (low earth orbit)—each featuring a 2,400 sq ft phased array with true direct-to-cell broadband, capable of up to 10,000 MHz of processing bandwidth and peak speeds of 120 Mbps per cell,” AST SpaceMobile Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) said.