Episode
Spectrum Wars: How AST SpaceMobile Became the Poison Pill Legacy Players Can't Escape
- Podcast
- AST SpaceMobile Podcast
- Published
- Jul 1, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3272
- Processing state
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Summary
What does it take to hold a stock from $2 to $130? According to Anpanman, it takes a special kind of delusion — and he means that as the highest possible compliment. In this episode, Anpanman fires up a wide-ranging conversation about the mental fortitude required to invest in the space sector before it was cool, why the critics and short sellers who tried to sabotage AST SpaceMobile ultimately ended up benefiting from the very company they attacked, and what the summer of 2025 could mean for long-term believers in the thesis. Anpanman breaks down the fascinating and often ironic story of legacy satellite players — Viasat, Iridium, and Globalstar — who spent years pooh-poohing the direct-to-device concept, only to find their spectrum holdings dramatically revalued because of AST's pioneering work. He walks through the Ligado deal, Viasat's failed attempts to unscramble the egg in bankruptcy court, and why AST's 80-year L-band rights in North America function as an effective poison pill for any competitor hoping to build a global constellation without the most profitable market in the world anchoring the economics. The episode goes deep on the summer catalyst setup, including the J-LEO project timeline with Rakuten, the expected delivery and launch of Bluebird satellites 11 through 13, a potential multi-launch agreement with Mitsubishi Heavy, and the strategic implications of the grain management 800 MHz spectrum development that AST publicly supported. Anpanman also connects the dots on how Starlink's increasingly aggressive moves into terrestrial mobile are paradoxically accelerating AST's strategic value with carriers like KDDI, NTT DoCoMo, and SoftBank around the world. This is one of the most comprehensive state-of-the-union conversations on the AST SpaceMobile the…