AST SpaceMobile Awarded $30 Million Prime Contract by U.S. Space Development Agency for HALO Europa Program
AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (“AST SpaceMobile”) (NASDAQ: ASTS), the company building the first and only space-based cellular broadband network accessible directly by everyday smartphones, designed for both commercial and government applications, today announced that it has entered into an agreement with the United States Space Development Agency (SDA) for the Europa Track 2 Commercial Solutions program. The agreement, executed under the Hybrid Acquisition for proliferated Low-earth Orbit (HALO) program, has a total contract value of approximately $30 million.
This Other Transaction (OT) agreement focuses on the rapid demonstration and delivery of innovative capabilities to the United States warfighter. Under the contract, AST will utilize its BlueBird satellite constellation to demonstrate resilient, low-latency tactical satellite communications directly between government end devices.
“Selection for SDA’s Europa Track 2 program validates AST SpaceMobile’s ability to rapidly operationalize commercial space capabilities for national security,” said Chris Ivory, CEO of AST SpaceMobile USA. “By leveraging our existing low Earth orbit (LEO) dual-use satellite technology, we support the Government’s defense efforts, delivering immediate connectivity with our BlueBird satellites and scaling quickly to advanced tactical use cases.”
The Europa Track 2 effort is focused on delivering immediate, operationally relevant tactical communications capabilities. Unlike traditional proprietary military satellite communications, AST SpaceMobile’s space-based architecture utilizes a software-defined “bent-pipe” structure to enable high-bandwidth data transport directly from low Earth orbit.
Through a series of on-orbit demonstrations, the program will validate 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.
This award further solidifies AST SpaceMobile’s position as a trusted partner to the Department of War, demonstrating how commercial space innovation can be rapidly integrated into national security missions. It directly supports the DoD’s vision for resilient, hybrid architectures, including the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), by enabling scalable, interoperable capabilities through existing commercial infrastructure.