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ASTS · Forward model · Government and engineering services · Bear case

What has to happen in Government and engineering services

Model as of

This page changes Government and engineering services inside the complete ASTS model. Every other vertical, corporate programme and valuation assumption stays in the selected portfolio case.

ASTS forward model
Horizon
Consolidated fair value −$9.65 all other verticals held in this portfolio case
Final-quarter revenue $55M 37% of company revenue
Explicit segment contribution $335M EBITDA less segment capex, before corporate items

Paid service slips past the middle of the horizon and the model is left with gateway resale and government milestones. Q2 revenue missed consensus by $3.01m, only 6.6% of the ~$1.2bn of remaining performance obligations is expected in the next twelve months against a $150-200m guided year, and the BlueBird 7 launch failure cost $125.9m in a single quarter. This case does not assume the constellation stops - it assumes the money the constellation earns arrives years later and at a worse price.

Government and engineering services

Basis quarter$7M
Final quarter$55M
Implied CAGR+51%
Final revenue mix37%

Services revenue is recognised at the point in time when milestones are achieved and accepted by the customer under agreements with the US Government, directly or through prime contractors. Management calls it the fastest-scaling part of the backlog and a recurring multi-billion-dollar-a-year opportunity starting in 2027. No unit count, headcount or contract-value schedule is disclosed and the government share of backlog is deliberately left unquantified, so sequential growth on the filed services line is the only defensible driver.

Last four quarters
2025 Q3 $7M Estimated
2025 Q4 $18M Estimated
2026 Q1 $1M Reported
2026 Q2 $7M Reported
US Government milestone completions, direct and via prime contractorsNon-communications and secure-communications programmes
Sequential growth +45.0%/qtr decaying toward +5.0% 45% into 2026 Q3. Over $125m of new US Government awards landed in the quarter and revenue is milestone-recognised.
Government and engineering services

Latest: $55M (2031Q2E)

Period Value
2025Q1 $343,000.00
2025Q2 $1M
2025Q3 $7M
2025Q4 $18M
2026Q1 $1M
2026Q2 $7M
2026Q3E $10M
2026Q4E $13M
2027Q1E $17M
2027Q2E $20M
2027Q3E $24M
2027Q4E $27M
2028Q1E $29M
2028Q2E $32M
2028Q3E $34M
2028Q4E $36M
2029Q1E $38M
2029Q2E $40M
2029Q3E $42M
2029Q4E $44M
2030Q1E $46M
2030Q2E $48M
2030Q3E $50M
2030Q4E $51M
2031Q1E $53M
2031Q2E $55M

Assumptions & reasoning

  • Cost of revenues - services is only labour and sales commissions, which is why contribution margin is 83.6% in the basis quarter and was 91.8% for FY2025. The real cost of this line is the engineering base - $87.3m of GAAP engineering services costs, $57.2m adjusted, in the basis quarter - and that sits in the corporate operating programme so it is counted once, not twice.
  • The 2025 Q3 and 2025 Q4 points are derived, not reported. Q3 2025 is total revenue $14.739m less the disclosed $7.7m of gateway resale, which agrees with the disclosed ~$7.0m of US Government revenue; Q4 2025 is FY2025 services of $26.529m less the first nine months. Both quarters are flagged estimated.
  • A recurring multi-billion-dollar-a-year opportunity starting in 2027 is an aspiration management stated on the call, not guidance and not backlog. Backlog is ~$1.30bn in aggregate contracted revenue and management said only that a minority of it is government, without quantifying the split.
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