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Jan 16, 2026 12:00 PM

AST SpaceMobile Lands Prime SHIELD Slot Under Golden Dome Strategy

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) stock surged on Friday after announcing that it has secured a prime position on the U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense (SHIELD) program, a multi-award indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract that could generate future task orders.

The SHIELD award makes AST SpaceMobile eligible to compete for new work spanning research, development, engineering, prototyping, and operational support tied to U.S. missile defense modernization.

The program falls under the government’s broader “Golden Dome” initiative, which emphasizes a ...