AST SpaceMobile's Japan Catalyst Puts Its Rollout Story Back in Focus

AST SpaceMobile shares surged 21% on June 29 after Japan announced a roughly $912 million subsidy for a Rakuten-led satellite communications project. Rakuten and AST SpaceMobile plan a joint venture targeting regulatory approval for D2D operations in Japan, with initial commercial services expected in 2026. Despite the bullish catalyst, analysts maintain a consensus Reduce rating on ASTS. MarketBeat previews the top five stocks to own by August 1st.

The roller coaster ride continues for AST SpaceMobile NASDAQ: ASTS shareholders. After space stocks were battered in the wake of the SpaceX NASDAQ: SPCX IPO in June, AST SpaceMobile rewarded patient investors with its best daily performance in two years. Shares of the Midland, Texas-based space-based direct-to-device (D2D) cellular broadband provider surged 21% on Monday, June 29, to close out the second quarter on a strong note. This was a welcome reprieve after a month in which the market punished ASTS despite the successful launch of its low Earth orbit (LEO) BlueBird satellites 8, 9, and 10.

Get AST SpaceMobile alerts: Sign Up AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (ASTS) Price Chart for Friday, July, 3, 2026 The catalyst for this week’s big jump was Japan’s plan to grant up to 148 billion yen (approximately $912 million) to a satellite communications project led by Rakuten OTCMKTS: RKUNY. That put AST SpaceMobile’s Rakuten partnership back into the spotlight while raising hopes for a major D2D rollout in Japan.

Japan Announces Massive Space-Based Telecom Subsidy AST SpaceMobile Today ASTS AST SpaceMobile $85.13 0.00 (0.00%) As of 07/2/2026 04:00 PM Eastern 52-Week Range $36.08 ▼ $133.86 Price Target $85.09 Add to Watchlist Motivated by concerns that critical communications infrastructure has become too dependent on foreign satellite networks such as Space...