A textbook launch aboard a Falcon 9 rocket (owned by arch-rival SpaceX) took three AST SpaceMobile satellites into transfer orbit on June 17th from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.<\/p>\n
The three craft \u2013 BlueBird 8, 9 and 10 \u2013 are the largest commercial communications arrays ever deployed in low Earth orbit, measuring approximately 2,400 square feet. Their expansive antenna arrays enable direct, reliable connectivity to standard smartphones, with high power generation in orbit. The result is more targeted coverage, reduced interference, increased capacity, and a claimed seamless cellular broadband experience.<\/p>\n
These next-generation satellites are designed to deliver nearly double the peak data speeds of the company\u2019s initial Block 1 BlueBird satellites, which recently achieved peak download speeds of 98.9 Mbps directly to standard smartphones, supporting voice, broadband data, and video applications from space.<\/p>\n
\u201cBlueBirds 8, 9, and 10 represent the continued execution of a vision once considered impossible: space-based cellular broadband to everyone, everywhere\u201d said Abel Avellan, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of AST SpaceMobile. \u201cOur team has built a new class of space-based cellular broadband technology that connects seamlessly to everyday smartphones. This is a fundamental transformation of how the world connects. We invented this market, and we are executing and advancing our network to make global, space-based cellular broadband a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n
The three craft were in a \u2018stacked configuration\u2019 within the Falcon 9\u2019s fairing housing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis first stacked launch is just the beginning,\u201d Avellan added. \u201cBlueBirds 11, 12, and 13 will ship shortly for our next launch, while next-generation BlueBird satellites through BlueBird 37 are already in active production and assembly Our focus is firmly on execution: scaling launch cadence, manufacturing, and preparing for commercial service.\u201d<\/p>\n
AST SpaceMobile has agreements with nearly 60 mobile network operators globally representing more than 3 billion subscribers combined, together with strategic partnerships with AT&T, Verizon, Vodafone, Rakuten, Google, Bell, Telus, stc Group, and American Tower.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A textbook launch aboard a Falcon 9 rocket (owned by arch-rival SpaceX) took three AST SpaceMobile satellites into…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":505823,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[61,60,82,247],"class_list":["post-505822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=505822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/505823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=505822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=505822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=505822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}