AST SpaceMobile has deployed a low Earth orbit satellite, Bluewalker 3 (BW3), as part of its space-based cellular broadband network that is accessible directly by standard mobile phones via 3GPP standard frequencies at 5G speeds.
The result of years of R&D, BW3’s 693-square foot array is the largest-ever commercial communications array in orbit. Now that the array has been unfolded, the satellite is expected to have a field of view of over 300,000 square miles on the surface of the Earth.
Abel Avellan, Chairman and CEO of AST SpaceMobile, said, “The successful unfolding of BlueWalker 3 is a major step forward for our patented space-based cellular broadband technology and paves the way for the ongoing production of our BlueBird satellites.”
AST SpaceMobile has agreements and understandings with mobile network operators globally that have over 1.8 billion existing subscribers, including a mutual exclusivity with Vodafone in 24 countries, offering them the ability to provide extended cellular broadband coverage to their customers. Rakuten will test BW3 on its cloud-native network in Japan, as will AT&T in America.
AST SpaceMobile already has competition in the nascent direct-to-mobile phone satellite service segment. Lynk Global, a Virginia-based startup, has announced it will test sending a 5G signal from a LEO satellite to standard mobile devices in December using its second commercial satellite.
Lynk is actively testing satellite-direct-to-phone-services in 12 countries on five continents. The technology’s design and development processes enable Lynk to rapidly incorporate new technologies, such as an experimental 5G payload, in addition to the existing GSM and LTE base stations, according to the company. Lynk’s software-designed radios can switch between 2G and 5G depending on demand from the MNOs.
All MNOs, or at least a majority, will eventually have relationships with LEO satellites providing direct coverage to their smartphone users when a cell tower is not available according to market analysts. A little more than a year ago, Verizon and Project Kuiper teamed up to pair Verizon’s terrestrial mobile network with Amazon’s LEO satellite network. This August, T-Mobile made a big magenta splash about its relationship with Spacex and its constellation of LEO satellites, Inside Towers reported.
By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor
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