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AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) Provides First Quarter 2022 Business Update

May 16, 2022 5:33 PM EDT

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (“AST SpaceMobile”) (NASDAQ: ASTS), the company building the first and only space-based cellular broadband network accessible directly by standard mobile phones, today is providing its business update for the first quarter ended March 31, 2022.

“Today, we are excited to report strong momentum across the business. We continue to advance our industrialization activities, with investments at our Midland facilities and in our supply chain, towards our goal of producing up to 6 Bluebird production satellites per month,” said Abel Avellan, Chairman and CEO of AST SpaceMobile. “We also remain focused on the planned summer launch of our next satellite, BlueWalker 3, having completed more than 700 tests to position the spacecraft and our system for mission success.”

Business Highlights

  • The BlueWalker 3 (“BW3”) satellite is substantially complete having undergone over 700 tests of its capabilities and systems and is targeted to launch in the Summer of 2022 subject to a number of factors, including satisfactory and timely completion of all testing
  • Received an experimental license from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) authorizing BlueWalker 3 space-to-ground testing in the United States using 3GPP low-band cellular frequencies and Q/V-band frequencies, subject to certain restrictions
  • Appointed Sean Wallace as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, who most recently served as Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer for Cogent Communications, one of the leading internet service providers in the world with operations in 50 countries; Mr. Wallace assumed his new role on May 10, 2022
  • Entered into a common stock purchase agreement with B. Riley Principal Capital, LLC (“B. Riley”) that provides the right, without obligation, to sell and issue up to $75.0 million of Class A Common Stock over a period of 24 months to B. Riley at AST SpaceMobile’s sole discretion, subject to certain limitations and conditions
  • Continued progress on clean room environment and facility readiness at the extension production facility (“Site 2”) in Texas for the highly automated assembly and testing line that will support our production target of up to 6 satellites per month
  • Announced a memorandum of understanding (“MOU”) with Globe Telecom, Inc., a leading digital platform in the Philippines, serving approximately 86 million wireless subscribers, bringing the number of subscribers represented by mobile network operators who have agreements and MOUs with AST SpaceMobile to more than 1.8 billion as of May 16, 2022
  • Grew portfolio of patent- and patent-pending claims to more than 2,300 worldwide as of May 16, 2022, compared to more than 2,100 as of March 31, 2022

First Quarter 2022 Financial Highlights

  • Ended the first quarter with cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash of $255.1 million and $4.9 million of debt as of March 31, 2022, incurred in connection with the purchase of the new Texas facility
  • Total operating expenses increased by $1.4 million to $32.7 million for the first quarter of 2022, as compared to $31.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2021, due to a $0.9 million increase in engineering services, $0.3 million increase in research and development costs, and $0.2 million increase in depreciation and amortization
  • As of March 31, 2022, invested $82.7 million in the construction and testing of the BlueWalker 3 satellite
  • As of March 31, 2022, invested $32.2 million in property and equipment primarily related to the Texas facilities, satellite antennas, test equipment, and leasehold improvements

Conference Call Information

AST SpaceMobile will hold a quarterly business update conference call at 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) today, May 16, 2022. The call will be accessible via a live webcast on the Events page of AST SpaceMobile’s Investor Relations website at https://investors.ast-science.com/. An archive of the webcast will be available shortly after the call.



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