Space Stock Tracker: Firefly Rocket Explodes, AST SpaceMobile BlueBird 6 Ready For Flight

Space stocks have been moving in response to news catalysts, including a major explosion, new contracts, and upcoming launches.

Here's a look at what's going on in the space sector. 

• ASTS stock is climbing. See the details here. 

Firefly Aerospace – FLY 

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. (NASDAQ:FLY) shares dropped by more than 20% on Tuesday after its Alpha rocket's core stage for the next mission was destroyed in a testing mishap.

Firefly noted that all personnel are safe and no other facilities were impacted.

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USA Today posted a video of the explosion on its social media feed. 

“Regular testing is part of Firefly's philosophy — we test each critical component, engine and vehicle stage to ensure it operates within our flight requirements before we ship to the launch pad. We learn from each test to improve our designs and build a more reliable system,” the company said in a statement. 

FLY shares were down by more than 30% in the last five days. 

Rocket Lab – RKLB 

On Monday, Rocket Lab Corp. (NASDAQ:RKLB) announced a second multi-launch contract with Synspective, a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite data and analytics company from Japan. 

The new contract is for an additional ten launches, bringing the total number of upcoming missions to 21.

"Regular and reliable launch on a flexible schedule is essential to the build out of Synspective's constellation, and Electron has been integral to this from the start as the sole launcher of all StriX satellites in space today," said Peter Beck, CEO of Rocket Lab.

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AST SpaceMobile – ASTS

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) announced on Tuesday that it had completed all assembly and testing of BlueBird 6 and the satellites are ready for flight. 

BlueBird 6 officially starts the company's next-gen launch campaign, with BlueBird 7 expected to ship to the Cape Canaveral launch site later this month. 

AST's BlueBird 8 through 16 are currently in various stages of production and are expected to launch every one to two months in 2025 and 2026.

"These BlueBirds will be the largest commercial satellites ever deployed in LEO – each featuring a 2,400 sq ft phased array with true direct-to-cell broadband, capable of up to 10,000 MHz of processing bandwidth and peak speeds of 120 Mbps per cell," the company stated in a post.

Barclays raised its price target on ASTS stock from $37 to $60 on the news, according to The Fly. 

ASTS stock was up 8% on Wednesday, according to data from Benzinga Pro. 

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Intuitive Machines – LUNR 

Intuitive Machines, Inc. (NASDAQ:LUNR) announced on Wednesday that it has completed the acquisition of  KinetX, a company specializing in deep space navigation and constellation mission design.

LUNR stock has gained more than 24% over the past month. 

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