An Indian rocket launched the record-breaking BlueBird 6 smartphone satellite to orbit on Tuesday night (Dec. 23).
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An Indian LVM3 rocket launches the BlueBird 6 smartphone satellite for AST SpaceMobile on Dec. 23, 2025. (Image credit: ISRO)
AST SpaceMobile is building a constellation of satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) that beam broadband service directly to standard smartphones on the ground.
The company has now launched six operational satellites to orbit, five of them aboard a single SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in September 2024. Those previous spacecraft, BlueBirds 1 through 5, feature 693-square-foot (64.4 square meters) communication arrays — the largest ever unfurled in LEO.
BlueBird 6 will break that record, and by a healthy margin. It’s the first of AST SpaceMobile’s next-generation BlueBirds, whose arrays cover nearly 2,400 square feet (223 square meters) apiece.
India’s LVM3 rocket on the pad ahead of the successful Dec. 23, 2025 launch of the BlueBird 6 satellite for AST SpaceMobile. (Image credit: ISRO)
Tuesday’s liftoff was the ninth overall for the three-stage, 143-foot-tall (43.5 m) LVM3, which is India’s most powerful rocket. It debuted in December 2014 and has a 100% success rate to date.
BlueBird 6, which tips the scales at about 13,450 pounds (6,100 kilograms), was the heaviest payload that the LVM3 has ever hauled to LEO, according to the Indian Space Research Organisation.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 11 p.m. ET on Dec. 23 with news of successful launch and satellite deployment.