AST SpaceMobile wins $1B Japan grant as 100-satellite plan faces launch test
What's the deal? AST SpaceMobile has secured approximately $1 billion in non-dilutive funding from Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, tied to a new joint venture with Rakuten called Rakuten AST. The Texas-based company is building a satellite network that connects everyday smartphones directly to space, and will supply satellites for a Japanese-operated constellation targeting commercial service by the end of March 2029.
By the numbers: The award—up to ¥148 billion over roughly three years under Japan's J-LEO project—is a grant, not unrestricted cash, and is conditional on building a Japanese-flagged network. AST ended September with about $3.2 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash, and reported $42.3 million in third-quarter revenue.
Why it stands out: At $1 billion, this ranks among the largest grants ever recorded in US space, placing it in the top 1% of 410 comparable deals.
What's the endgame? AST wants to deploy more than 100 BlueBird satellites across 2027 and 2028, backed by launch agreements covering that volume. The Japanese venture adds a government-backed market and a financing source as the company scales manufacturing.
What could go wrong? The near-term constraint is deployment, not factory output. Only 11 to 13 satellites are currently operating, and AST's target of roughly 45 in orbit has slipped to mid-2027. Execution remains unproven at constellation scale.
The signal: Governments are increasingly willing to fund sovereign direct-to-device networks, treating satellite connectivity as economic security and disaster resilience. For AST, the grant eases the capital burden of building its constellation—but the test is still turning satellites in orbit into reliable, recurring revenue.
Read more: business-news-today.com
Image credit: NASA Goddard Photo and Video
