2023-04-26 13:04:45 ET
Shares of space-based cellphone technology company AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ: ASTS) had a bit of a delayed blastoff Tuesday morning. After inching just 1.8% higher yesterday on news of a successful technology demonstration, the stock is really taking off in late-morning trading Tuesday -- up 12.6% through 11:50 a.m. ET.
So what lit the candle on AST stock? If you recall, AST SpaceMobile is a fairly recent SPAC space company that boasts it has a technology that can turn every cellphone on Earth into a satellite phone -- able to communicate directly with other just-as-ordinary cellphones via satellites that AST intends to place in orbit.
Personally, I've been skeptical of the company -- and the technology -- in the past, but let's give credit where it's due: Yesterday, AST successfully demonstrated its technology in placing a voice call directly from Midland, Texas to Rakuten in Japan, "over AT&T spectrum using a Samsung Galaxy S22 smartphone," according to a press release, communicating via a BlueWalker 3 (BW3) satellite operated by AST. And to be clear, this call apparently went directly from the Texas phone up to the satellite and then down to Japan, with no cell towers or other terrestrial technology hardware involved.
For further details see:
Why AST SpaceMobile Stock Went to the Moon Today