AST SpaceMobile wins SDA HALO Europa contract for direct to device tactical links

by Silas Korrin
New York (SDX) Feb 23, 2026
AST SpaceMobile has secured a prime contract worth about 30 million dollars with the United States Space Development Agency for the Europa Track 2 Commercial Solutions program under the Hybrid Acquisition for proliferated Low Earth Orbit, or HALO, initiative.

The agreement calls for AST SpaceMobile to use its BlueBird low Earth orbit satellite constellation to demonstrate resilient, low latency tactical satellite communications delivered directly to government end user devices.

AST SpaceMobile said the contract focuses on rapid demonstration and delivery of innovative space based connectivity for the United States warfighter, using a dual use commercial architecture that supports both government and commercial customers.

According to the company, its space based cellular broadband network uses a software defined bent pipe structure to move high bandwidth data directly from orbit to standard, unmodified mobile devices on the ground.

Under the Europa Track 2 effort, AST SpaceMobile will conduct a series of on orbit demonstrations to show that its satellites can integrate seamlessly with existing tactical military radios and communications systems.

These test campaigns are intended to validate how commercial satellite infrastructure can be adapted quickly for defense missions and how data products can be delivered as a service to the Space Development Agency.

AST SpaceMobile said the award marks the first time its wholly owned defense subsidiary, AST SpaceMobile USA, has been selected as a prime contractor to support a United States government space program.

The company added that the contract strengthens its role as a trusted partner for national security customers by proving how commercial innovation in space can be folded into operational military architectures.

The work under HALO Europa is aligned with the Department of War vision for resilient, hybrid space architectures, including the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, by providing scalable and interoperable capabilities using existing commercial assets.

AST SpaceMobile is developing what it describes as the first global cellular broadband network in space that can connect directly with standard smartphones and other unmodified mobile devices, targeting both commercial markets and government users.

The company says its engineers and space scientists aim to enable 4G and 5G space based cellular broadband services to reach nearly 6 billion mobile subscribers worldwide using its patent based technology platform.