AST SpaceMobile, Inc.

Thank you for standing by. Welcome to the AST SpaceMobile fourth quarter 2023 business update call. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your host today, Scott Wisniewski, Chief Strategy Officer of AST SpaceMobile. Please go ahead.

Thank you and good afternoon, everyone. Let me refer you to page two of the presentation, which contains our safe harbor disclaimer. During today's call, we may make certain forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions, and as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements on this call. For more information about these risks and uncertainties, please refer to the Risk Factors section of AFT SpaceMobile's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 with the Securities and Exchange Commission and other documents filed by AFT SpaceMobile with the SEC from time to time. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and the company specifically disclaims any obligation to update the forward-looking statements that may be discussed during this call. Also, after our initial remarks, we will be starting our Q&A section with questions submitted in advance by our shareholders. Now, referring to page three, for those of you who are new to our company and mission, there are over 5 billion mobile phones in use today around the world, but many of us still experience gaps in coverage as we live, work, and travel. Additionally, there are billions of people without cellular broadband who remain unconnected to the global digital economy. These markets that we are pursuing are massive, and the problem we are solving is important and touches nearly all of us. In this backdrop, AST Space Mobile is building the first and only global cellular broadband network in space to operate directly with everyday, unmodified mobile devices, supported by our extensive IP and patent portfolio, and designed for both commercial and government use. With that, I would like to introduce Chairman and CEO, Abel Avalon.

Thank you, Scott. I would like to welcome everybody to our Q4 2023 business update call. It has been an incredibly busy few months here at AST Space Mobile, and I will walk you through updates on our key areas of focus today. First, at the start of the year, we announced strategic investments from AT&T, Google, and Vodafone, which represent a boat of confidence in our technology and business model. With this, we have necessary funding on hand to execute near-term strategic plans for the launch of five 700-square-foot Block 1 Bluebird satellites and the initial next generation 2,400-square-foot Bluebirds, which will surpass Block 1 as the largest phase array in low-end orbit. We're also very excited to continue to advance discussions with additional strategic partners following the blueprint of strategic investment alongside commercial payments. Another great development on our commercialization was the new contract award we announced with the United States government through a prime contractor, which we believe will open the door for dual-use commercial and government applications of our satellites. On the regulatory front, we have received great news recently with the new FCC rules, which will provide a pathway to unlock over 200 megahertz of a spectrum for direct-to-device to support the rollout of our technology. The FCC voted March 14 to approve the supplemental coverage from Space, which was published in February. This should facilitate AST's SpaceMobile FCC application to provide commercial services in the U.S. This will simplify the overall application process by making the standard rules which will cover the majority of AST SpaceMobile applications. We anticipate many regulatory entities globally will follow the new U.S. regulatory regime to regulate our services. We're starting to see this in large countries like Brazil. Moving to manufacturing, our 185,000 square foot Texas facilities are fully operational with production, assembly, and testing. Unfortunately, production was negatively impacted primarily by two suppliers, leading to delays in integration and testing for these 5,700 square foot Block 1 Bluebirds. while we have also faced initial challenges on the manufacturing of our new upgrade microns to be used for Block 1 and Block 2. In order to accelerate production of our next satellites and reduce dependency on outside suppliers, we acquired a license to manufacture one of the components and replace the other supplier with our own IP and design. At the same time, while rapidly stabilizing our micron production line, This is important because these are the same micron building blocks for our next satellite launch. With the supplier fixes, we will be able to manufacture in-house and through third parties of our own IP approximately 95% of all satellite subsystems for our next generation Block II Bluebird satellite, securing our supply chain further. Next, I can share updates on our orbital launches to provide a near-term timeline. We expect that the 5,700-foot Block 1 Bluebird satellite will be transported from our assembly facility to the launch site between July and August 2024. And looking ahead, we have secured an additional launch contract for the first 2,400-square-foot next-generation Block 2 Bluebird satellite with a contract launch window from December 2024 to March 2025, which will surpass Block 1 as the largest phase array in loaded orbits. Also, as we announced last week, our custom ASIC entered the TAPAL phase, which is planned to enable 120 megabits peak data rate on 40 megahertz spectrum channels. This novel custom and low-power architecture was developed to enable up to 10-fold improvement in processing bandwidth on each next-generation 2400-square-feet Block II Blue Bear satellite. The design of our custom ASIC with a processing bandwidth of approximately 10,000 megahertz per satellite, along with the large phase array, is the enabler of true space-based cellular broadband with a relatively small number of satellites. This effort represents over four years, equivalent to an estimated 150 million years of intensive work, as well as approximately $45 million of development on the ASIC alone. And lastly, in addition to the strategic discussion referred earlier, we are very excited to have received three non-binding letters of interest for non-deluded quasi-governmental funding. As a result, we have initiated the process with these funding sources, and Sean will be explaining more to you about this. Turning to page five, the investments from AT&T, Google, and Vodafone are of great significance for us, as they are some of our largest prospective customers alongside the U.S. government. With Google in particular, the agreement to collaborate on product development will be a great benefit for our prospective MNO customers. We had agreements and understanding with more than 40 mobile network operators globally, which have over 2 billion existing subscribers globally. AT&T and Google joined Vodafone, Rakuten, American Tower, and Bell Canada as investors. I could not be more proud to have these great organizations alongside us on the execution of our mission. And as I stated before, we continue to advance discussion with additional strategic partners following the blueprint of strategic investments alongside commercial payments. Turning to page six, a few weeks ago we announced a new contract award with the United States government through a prime contractor. I want to take a step back on what is the opportunity here. Our large phase array antenna technology in space is able to address many potential opportunities for mission-critical capabilities in the government sector. The large aperture and high power delivered into orbit at a low cost compared with the historical benchmark fit the desired governmental model for capturing commercial networks with dual-use capabilities. And while we remain focused on a large commercial opportunity for our business, We're excited about initiatives underway with the U.S. government as well. We have begun recording initial revenue under this contract in Q1 2024. Also, there are potential other awards, including additional phases of this contract available to us in calendar year 2024. Turning to page seven, I want to take a moment to walk through why having our own ASIC is really a big deal and is critical to achieve true broadband from space. Our noble custom and low-power architecture was developed to enable up to tenfold improvement in processing bandwidth on each satellite. Satellites will be lighter, cheaper to produce, and will require less mass to orbit. The TAPAL will be completed with TSNC, the world's leading foundry, following work with leaders in the semiconductor industry over the last years. For those of you who are not familiar with the industry jargon, the TAPAL means that we and our development partners complete the design of the ASIC. After four years of work and $45 million of investment, we have now formally handed over those designs to TSNC to produce the chip for the initial set of ASICs to enable the 2,400 square foot next generation Block II Bluebirds, which will be expected to receive later this year. I am extremely proud of the team effort to reach this critical milestone. Our ASIC, along with our large antenna, will enable up to 120 megabits per second data rates per bin on 40 megahertz channels and 10,000 megahertz of processing bandwidth. That combined with our large space array is the key enabler for true broadband from space to the phone that you're surrounding in your pocket. I will now pass it to Scott to provide a brief regulatory update.