AST SpaceMobile secured $100 million in non-dilutive equipment financing from business development company Trinity Capital to support its manufacturing and network deployment plans for 2025 and 2026. 

Non-dilutive financing pumps additional funding into AST SpaceMobile without a requirement to sell new shares or a stake in the business.

CFO Andrew Johnson stated it is “the first such type of financing agreement for the company and reflects our stage of rapid growth and transition from research and development to full-scale manufacturing and network deployment”.

The satellite service provider issued a stock prospectus in May as it seeks to raise $500 million over the next three years to broaden its constellation of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites.

Johnson previously said AST SpaceMobile estimated average capital costs including direct materials and launch outlay for its constellation of more than 90 Block 2 BlueBird satellites would fall in the range of $21 million to $23 million per satellite.

Plans to conduct five launches over a period of up to nine months announced in May appear to have hit a snag.

AST SpaceMobile used SpaceX to launch its first five birds in 2024 but later inked a multi-year agreement with Blue Origin to use its New Glenn rocket for some of its satellites.

Ars Technica reported earlier this week Blue Origin’s plan to launch its New Glenn rocket next month was pushed back to September or October and may not be available to carry AST SpaceMobile’s satellites until sometime in 2026.

TMF Associates president Tim Farrar told Mobile World Live AST SpaceMobile’s cost for launching satellites would increase because it would now have to buy more room on SpaceX Falcon 9 (F9) rockets.

“They are planning to launch only three satellites on each F9″, he said, adding “every little bit helps” regarding the latest funding.

He noted non-dilutive financing “is likely cheaper and more flexible” than the Export-Import Bank of the United States loan AST SpaceMobile originally sought to help pay for the New Glenn launches.