Communications

SPACEMOBILE-003

Direct-to-cell communications · AST SpaceMobile

SpaceMobile-003 is one of AST SpaceMobile's first-generation BlueBird satellites, part of a launch of five that lifted off September 12, 2024 from Cape Canaveral and, at the time, carried the largest commercial communications array ever deployed in low Earth orbit—an antenna roughly 700 square feet in size, about the footprint of a small studio apartment, folded up for launch and unfurled once in orbit. The scale isn't a flex; it's the entire point. AST SpaceMobile's business is connecting ordinary, unmodified smartphones directly to satellites for voice, text, and data—no special hardware, no separate app, just a regular phone talking to space the same way it talks to a cell tower. That only works if the satellite's antenna is big enough to pick up a phone's comparatively weak signal from roughly 340 miles up, which demands far more collecting area than a conventional communications satellite. Each BlueBird supports up to 120 megabits per second and targets close to 100% coverage across the continental United States with over 5,600 coverage cells, working with carrier partners AT&T, Verizon, Vodafone, Rakuten, and Bell. It's a strong signal of intent for a company racing SpaceX's rival Direct-to-Cell service to dominate the emerging market for phones that never lose signal, anywhere on Earth.