October 28, 2024 AST SpaceMobile has confirmed that each of their five BlueBird satellites launched by SpaceX in September have successfully unfurled their massive solar and transmission arrays. Each satellite carries 64 sq metres of array. AST is building follow-on satellites which are even larger in size and has ambitions to become a global connectivity supplier of satellite-to-cellular traffic including data, voice and video. The appeal is that their signals can be used by ordinary smartphones. The satellites are orbiting in low Earth orbit, and AST holds some 3,450 patents and patents-pending covering its technology, and while it has rivals (Iridium, Globalstar/Apple, Lynk) and SpaceX and Amazon’s Project Kuiper it has a head start given the huge number of telcos which have signed up as partners including AT&T and Verizon in the US. AST says it will now conduct in-orbit tests, including bhy government users, of its technology. Meanwhile, production is continuing on the 45-60 additional Version 2 satellites needed to provide an initial global service. The first batch of these extra-powerful satellite will launch this winter. Each of the Version 2 satellites can handle 10 GHz of processing and around 120 Mb/s data rates. “The unfolding of the first five commercial satellites is a significant milestone for the company. These five satellites are the largest commercial communications arrays ever launched in low Earth orbit,” commented Abel Avellan, Founder, Chairman and CEO of AST SpaceMobile. “It is a significant achievement to commission these satellites, and we are now accelerating our path to commercial activity.” “The deployment of our first five BlueBird commercial satellites marks just the beginning of our journey,” continued Avellan. “As we prepare for commercial services, we remain committed to pushing the boundaries of innovation. Our team is already hard at work building the next generation of satellites, which will offer ten times the capacity of our current BlueBirds, further transforming mobile connectivity and delivering even greater benefits to our customers and partners worldwide.” Related posts: Register We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.