AST SpaceMobile (AST) already has five of its Mark 1 ‘BlueWalker’ satellites in orbit but they are far from enough to provide even close to decent coverage of its direct-to-consumer cellular coverage. Key to its 2025 strategy is to launch the larger and more powerful BlueBird satellites. India was initially reported to launch the first in April, then May. But those dates have slipped.
The dilemma is with India’s Space Research Organization (ISRO) which has a queue of tasks to handle and in particular a joint-venture satellite it has with NASA (the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar, or NISAR satellite) which is taking precedence and will launch in June.
ISRO says that the AST launch will happen “no sooner than” July. The timetable for this first BlueBird is then likely to see its huge 223 square meter antenna unfolding in September (although this could happen sooner) then in-orbit testing. The next launch will be handled by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket towards the end of this year.
AST is promising a full suite of consumer services including full connectivity from space plus voice, video, data and text services. It has some powerful allies in the form of AT&T, Vodafone, Verizon and other national telcos.
AST says it has firm launch contracts in place for 60 satellites and each capable of transmission speeds of up to 120 Mb/s — and without the need for anything other than an ordinary smart phone. AST says that by the end of 2026 it will have the majority of its BlueBird satellites in orbit, and providing a near-global service.
The end result will be that AST will have 243 satellites in orbit and operating at heights of 725 and 740 kms.
