The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.
(Questions from industry analysts are provided in full, but answers are omitted - download the transcript to see the full question-and-answer session)
Question: Michael Funk - Bofa Merrill Lynch Asset Holdings Inc - Analyst
: Yeah, hi, good evening, and thank you for the questions tonight. Congratulations on the funding activity during the quarter and the
fully funded status. So I wanted to tie that back to the comments on the prepayments and the $1 billion contract to date. So what
is your appetite or thoughts on future prepayment deals with customers, the commercial financial benefits to signing these now
that you are fully funded. And then maybe part B to the question, if I could, any more broad detail around those prepayment contracts,
whether they are for capacity subscribers. Any details on the broad terms would be helpful.
Question: Michael Funk - Bofa Merrill Lynch Asset Holdings Inc - Analyst
: Hey, I can.
Question: Michael Funk - Bofa Merrill Lynch Asset Holdings Inc - Analyst
: Great. Thank you guys so much.
Question: Mike Crawford - B. Riley Securities Holdings Inc - Analyst
: Thank you. When you start manufacturing L-band satellites, do you intend to put L-band in S-band the same satellites? And also will
you await formal FCC approval before starting to make those?
Question: Mike Crawford - B. Riley Securities Holdings Inc - Analyst
: Okay. And just a follow-up to that is your Saudi Telecom agreement, you anticipate to launch commercial services in the fourth
quarter '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. Thank you.
Question: Mike Crawford - B. Riley Securities Holdings Inc - Analyst
: Great. Thank you very much.
Question: Bryan Kraft - Deutsche Bank AG - Analyst
: 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 time line now has become a bit more compressed with some
delays at the front end of the 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 in that time line 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 Iris Square mandate in Europe.
Is that something that is happening? Is that real? Or is that just noise in the market? Thanks so much.
Question: Bryan Kraft - Deutsche Bank AG - Analyst
: 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?
Question: Bryan Kraft - Deutsche Bank AG - Analyst
: Okay. And then can you comment at all on the -- just the talk about Iris Squared and whether AST might be part of that. It seems like
you could be well positioned for it given this announcement today or over the weekend.
Question: Bryan Kraft - Deutsche Bank AG - Analyst
: Certainly. Understood. Thank you so much.
Question: Colin Canfield - Cantor Fitzgerald LP - Analyst
: Hey, thank you for the question. I appreciate 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 sort 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's sort of like back and forth is going to limit their capabilities. 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.
Question: Colin Canfield - Cantor Fitzgerald LP - Analyst
: Got it. Got it. And as we think about kind of the sizing of the war chest that AST has put together, that tracks 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, 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 to your own investment
in IP?
Question: Colin Canfield - Cantor Fitzgerald LP - Analyst
: Got it. Thank you for the call.
Question: Christopher Schoell - UBS AG - Analyst
: Great, thank you. I just want to follow up on the funding progress. I recognize that you are 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? Thanks.
Question: Christopher Schoell - UBS AG - Analyst
: Great. Thank you. 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?
Question: Christopher Schoell - UBS AG - Analyst
: Okay, great. Thank you very much.
Question: Louie DiPalma - William Blair Capital Partners - Analyst
: Well, Scott and Andy, congrats on the Verizon and STC definitive contracts.
Question: Louie DiPalma - William Blair Capital Partners - Analyst
: 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?
Question: Louie DiPalma - William Blair Capital Partners - Analyst
: Great. And also thanks for the color on the $1 billion in contracted revenue commitments. Is that for the three 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?
Question: Louie DiPalma - William Blair Capital Partners - Analyst
: Thanks, Scott. And in the past, you've discussed how your satellite processing tech can like recombine the disparate spectrum
holdings from AT&T and Verizon to create a cohesive near nationwide footprint for approximately 5 megahertz. How is that technology
working in trials?
Question: Louie DiPalma - William Blair Capital Partners - Analyst
: Excellent. So your technology can combine the mobile satellite spectrum in addition to the AT&T and Verizon spectrum?
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NOVEMBER 10, 2025 / 10:00PM, ASTS.OQ - Q3 2025 AST SpaceMobile Inc Earnings Call
Question: Louie DiPalma - William Blair Capital Partners - Analyst
: Great. Thanks, Avellan. Thanks, Scott and Andy.
Question: Gregory Pendy - Clear Street - Analyst
: Hey guys, thanks for taking my question. Just a real quick one. Given the MNO momentum that you've seen with SEC and Verizon,
I guess your 50 MNOs represent roughly 3 billion subs. If I'm not mistaken, the market or the TAM is 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. Thanks.
Question: Gregory Pendy - Clear Street - Analyst
: That's very helpful.
Question: Chris Quilty - Quilty Analytics LLC - Analyst
: Thanks guys. Maybe a more nuanced question than Louie about the $1 billion commitments. Is that all commercial? Or is that a
combination of commercial and government?
Question: Chris Quilty - Quilty Analytics LLC - Analyst
: Great. And maybe to follow on, I mean you're capitalized now for 100 satellites. Again, I'm assuming that's all for the commercial
side, obviously, secretary Department of War [Hege] speech, Friday indicating that contractors are going to have to 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
Star SpaceX Star shield model of vendor built and operated government-owned?
Question: Chris Quilty - Quilty Analytics LLC - Analyst
: Great. And final question, just on the launch. When will you give us some visibility on specific launch vehicles as we approach the
launch dates. Obviously, the heavy lift market is extremely constrained and I watched in the last week, both Blue Origin and ULA
delay and delay. SpaceX is really the only operator out there that's launching on a regular cadence.
It's a tight market at current time. And are you expecting other launch vehicles to become available?
Question: Chris Quilty - Quilty Analytics LLC - Analyst
: Got you. And are you still aiming for the same sort of three to four BlueBirds per Falcon 9, I think, 8 for New Glen? 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?
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NOVEMBER 10, 2025 / 10:00PM, ASTS.OQ - Q3 2025 AST SpaceMobile Inc Earnings Call
Question: Chris Quilty - Quilty Analytics LLC - Analyst
: Very good. Well, looking forward to the next one. Thank you.
Question: Scott Searle - Roth Capital Partners LLC - Analyst
: Hey, good afternoon. Thanks for taking the questions. 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 going to continue to roll through to build up to the 90 to 100-plus satellites in terms of,
I'll call it, Phase 2 constellation as we go into 2027?
Or are there some other milestones to be thinking about in terms of customer contracts or otherwise that will be a precursor to that
happening? And also as part of that, from a spectrum standpoint, you had a very astute buy of [Logano] 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. Thanks.
Question: Scott Searle - Roth Capital Partners LLC - Analyst
: Great. And just a clarification in terms of your continued launch cadence, if you will, once we get to 60 satellites or are 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. Thanks.
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NOVEMBER 10, 2025 / 10:00PM, ASTS.OQ - Q3 2025 AST SpaceMobile Inc Earnings Call
Question: Scott Searle - Roth Capital Partners LLC - Analyst
: Great. Thanks so much.
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