Why Is AST SpaceMobile Stock (ASTS) Suddenly Soaring Today, 6/26/26?

Satellite telecom company AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) dropped roughly 14% over the last five days, closing each day lower. However, its shares jumped more than 11% on Friday afternoon as investor sentiment appears to be improving toward recent milestones achieved by the company.

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These include reports from Wednesday that AST SpaceMobile is finally set to establish a satellite business joint venture with Japanese tech conglomerate Rakuten Group (RKUNF).

The venture is expected to operate a constellation of satellites to provide direct-to-cell network coverage from space to Japanese citizens. The plan was first made public in February 2024.

Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani has said the tech giant plans to roll out nationwide coverage in fiscal 2027. In April last year, Rakuten and AST SpaceMobile successfully held their first-ever video call through network coverage supplied by a low Earth orbit satellite. The call was made on ordinary smartphones.

The other event likely fueling Friday's rally in AST SpaceMobile's shares is the successful launch of the company's BlueBird 8, 9, and 10 satellites on June 1 using SpaceX's (SPCX) Falcon 9 rocket. This followed the failed launch of the BlueBird 7 in May.

The previous launch relied on a New Glenn rocket by Blue Origin, an aerospace and spaceflight services company established by Amazon (AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos. The fiasco led to a sell-off in ASTS stock.

However, AST SpaceMobile has said the launch of BlueBird 11, 12, and 13 will also use SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket. The firm plans to launch them from Cape Canaveral, Florida, during the first half of August this year.