Communications

SPACEMOBILE-005

Direct-to-cell communications · AST SpaceMobile

SpaceMobile-005 is one of the five first-generation BlueBird satellites AST SpaceMobile launched together on September 12, 2024, each carrying an antenna array of roughly 700 square feet — at the time, the largest commercial phased array ever put into low Earth orbit. The entire fleet is built around a single premise: a standard smartphone, with no extra hardware or software, should be able to connect straight to a satellite for voice calls, text, and data the moment it loses terrestrial signal. Achieving that means the satellite, not the phone, has to do almost all of the technical heavy lifting, hence the enormous unfolding antenna. After reaching orbit, the five BlueBirds underwent months of calibration before beginning beta testing with carrier partners including AT&T and Verizon, working toward a target of roughly 5,600 coverage cells and near-total coverage of the continental United States, positioning AST SpaceMobile as a direct competitor to SpaceX's own Starlink Direct-to-Cell service in the race to eliminate cellular dead zones everywhere on the planet.