{"title":"AST SpaceMobile vs Viasat: Communications constellations compared","url":"https://www.frontiertechintelligence.com/compare/ast-spacemobile-vs-viasat","comparison":"AST SpaceMobile ranks 11 on the Space 100 with a score of 85; Viasat ranks 49 with 74. AST SpaceMobile is ahead on production, technology, positioning, firepower and leverage. Viasat is ahead on deployment and commercials. Level on progress. AST SpaceMobile is based in Midland, United States, Viasat in Carlsbad, United States. AST SpaceMobile: Public, founded 2017. Viasat: Established. AST SpaceMobile is named in 58 signals and Viasat in 38.","companies":[{"name":"AST SpaceMobile","url":"https://www.frontiertechintelligence.com/companies/ast-spacemobile","city":"Midland","country":"United States","stage":"Public","founded":2017,"last_round":null,"positioning":"AST SpaceMobile is a US direct-to-device satellite company (Nasdaq:ASTS) with 13 BlueBird satellites in orbit (targeting ~45 by early 2027) and production ramping toward six satellites a month, with FY26 revenue guidance of $150-200M (Q2-26 revenue $31.5M against a $230.9M net loss). It holds $1.30B in contracted backlog, 60+ mobile-operator partnerships covering 3B+ subscribers, and $3.7B+ in liquidity, with consumer beta targeted for later 2026. A setback came in April 2026 when BlueBird-7 was stranded in an off-nominal orbit by a New Glenn second-stage anomaly (powered on and being assessed).","assessed_in":{"domain":"Space","list":"Space 100","rank":11,"score":85,"tier":"member","scores":{"leverage":8,"position":8,"progress":9,"firepower":10,"commercial":6,"deployment":9,"production":8,"technology":8},"why":"AST SpaceMobile sells direct-to-mobile satellite communications through the BlueBird network to telecom partners and their subscribers.","segment":"Communications constellations","layer":"Satellites & spacecraft"},"signals_total":58,"facts_total":172},{"name":"Viasat","url":"https://www.frontiertechintelligence.com/companies/viasat","city":"Carlsbad","country":"United States","stage":"Established","founded":null,"last_round":null,"positioning":"Viasat is a US satellite-communications company (FY26 record revenue of $4.64B, +2.7%; awards $4.9B) with all three ViaSat-3 satellites launched, though its F1 flagship operates at under 10% of design capacity after an antenna anomaly. It has 4,450 commercial aircraft in-flight-connectivity systems in service (+10%, a 1,000-aircraft backlog) and 1,315 NexusWave vessels, though its maritime business did not turn the corner per the CFO. Its forward story is the Equatys D2D shared-spectrum venture with Space42 (up to 2,800 satellites, Viasat as initial technology prime).","assessed_in":{"domain":"Space","list":"Space 100","rank":49,"score":74,"tier":"member","scores":{"gate_ne":["firepower"],"leverage":6,"position":6,"progress":9,"firepower":8,"commercial":10,"deployment":10,"production":6,"technology":6},"why":"Viasat operates satellite communications networks, including ViaSat-3, and sells broadband, in-flight, maritime, government and direct-to-device connectivity services.","segment":"Communications constellations","layer":"Satellites & spacecraft"},"signals_total":38,"facts_total":60}],"note":"Assessment by Frontier Tech Intelligence; facts and signals carry their sources."}