AST SpaceMobile Shares Soar 15% on Pentagon Deal, SHIELD Contract Awarded

AST SpaceMobile shares jumped 15% on a government contract win for the Missile Defense Agency's SHIELD initiative. The company's LEO satellite architecture is scalable and resilient, and the contract establishes AST SpaceMobile as an eligible provider for future task orders. The company's BlueBird 7 satellite is in Florida for launch vehicle integration, and it plans to deploy between 45 and 60 satellites by the end of 2026.