AST SpaceMobile wins $30 million contract for military  broadband demo

WASHINGTON — The Space Development Agency on Feb. 23 announced a $30 million contract award to AST SpaceMobile to demonstrate its space-based broadband technology for military use.

The firm-fixed-price award was issued under SDA’s Hybrid Acquisition for Proliferated Low Earth Orbit, or HALO, an Other Transaction agreement designed to fund rapid on-orbit experiments. AST SpaceMobile, based in Midland, Texas, will seek to demonstrate communications services using its commercial satellites, with tests slated for completion by December 2027.

AST said it will use its BlueBird satellite constellation to “demonstrate resilient, low-latency tactical satellite communications directly between government end devices.” Additionally, the company will attempt “seamless integration with existing tactical military radios and demonstrate how commercial satellite infrastructure can be rapidly applied for defense applications and deliver data products as-a-service to the Space Development Agency.”

SDA, a U.S. Space Force organization, is building the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, a large constellation of low Earth orbit satellites intended to support missile warning, tracking, data transport and other military missions. The agency’s strategy is to field satellites in iterative “tranches,” adding capability over time.

HALO serves as a proving ground for technologies that might later be folded into those operational layers. In October 2024, SDA selected 19 companies for the HALO vendor pool. Each received a modest initial agreement and eligibility to compete for prototype task orders. The structure allows SDA to test new capabilities under compressed timelines before committing them to future tranches of the PWSA.

The AST award falls under HALO’s “Europa” procurement, part of the Tranche 2 Demonstration and Experimentation System. Technologies that perform well in Europa demonstrations can inform or transition into the broader architecture.

GP Sandhoo, SDA’s acting director, said the agency is “using commercial solutions to quickly demonstrate mission utility, reduce risk for the operational layers of future tranches of the PWSA, and accelerate the delivery of cutting-edge capability to the warfighter.”

AST SpaceMobile is building a space-based cellular broadband network designed to connect directly with unmodified commercial smartphones. Its satellites carry large phased-array antennas intended to link standard mobile devices to orbiting spacecraft without specialized terminals. The company has pitched the system as a way to extend coverage to remote regions and disaster zones.

For AST SpaceMobile, the new contract represents another step toward positioning a consumer-focused broadband system as relevant to defense missions. Last year the company announced an estimated $43 million contract supporting SDA through an undisclosed prime contractor. In 2024, it tested its BlueWalker-3 satellite under an earlier SDA agreement.

The company is preparing to launch BlueBird-7 on the next flight of Blue Origin’s New Glenn heavy rocket. According to AST, the latest BlueBird satellites carry phased-array antennas spanning roughly 2,400 square feet, among the largest commercial arrays deployed in low Earth orbit.