The latest mission for AST SpaceMobile has ended in a costly failure after its BlueBird 7 satellite was deployed into the wrong orbit following a launch on Sunday, April 19, 2026.
While the mission’s primary objective failed, the launch marked a milestone for Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin as the New Glenn rocket’s booster made a historic first landing on the Jacklyn droneship (named as Bezos’ mom) floating in the Atlantic Ocean. This successful recovery follows the playbook established by SpaceX and its Falcon 9 rocket, though the victory was overshadowed by the loss of the payload.
In an official statement, AST SpaceMobile confirmed that “BlueBird 7 was placed into a lower than planned orbit by the upper stage of the launch vehicle.” While the company noted the satellite successfully separated and powered on, the situation is terminal. The company stated the “altitude is too low to sustain operations with its on-board thruster technology and will be de-orbited.”
According to astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, the BlueBird 7 satellite already re-entered the atmosphere on Monday, April 20, and burned up harmlessly over the ocean.
So basically the New Glenn upper stage messed up, putting the BlueBird 7 at about 154 km high, when instead it should have been 460 km up in orbit.
AST SpaceMobile is still intending to launch every one to two months on average this year with a goal of having approximately 45 satellites in orbit by the end of 2026.
This failure is a setback for Bell and Telus customers, who are watching as Rogers pulls ahead with its own satellite-to-mobile service powered by SpaceX’s Starlink. Rogers already offers satellite text messaging and recently expanded its service to support voice and video calling via apps like WhatsApp and Google Maps. Just last week, Rogers announced that Canadians can now use Starlink roaming in the U.S. through a partnership with T-Mobile.
For Bell and Telus, who partnered with AST SpaceMobile to eliminate dead zones and compete with Rogers, this orbital failure puts their rollout timeline under heavy pressure. While AST SpaceMobile noted that “BlueBird 8 to 10 expected to be ready to ship in approximately 30 days” and the “cost of the satellite is expected to be recovered under the company’s insurance policy,” the loss of a critical satellite makes their late-2026 nationwide goal much harder to hit.
As Rogers continues to expand its cell tower in the sky capabilities thanks to Starlink (which launches satellites twice per week), the pressure is now on AST SpaceMobile to ensure future launches go off without a hitch.
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