AST SpaceMobile needs to get its second-generation satellites into orbit speedily. The first of these craft, weighing some 6500 kgs, is much-delayed in its promised launch date. Now, AST insists that the satellite is ready to leave its Midland, Texas, fabrication facility and will be shipped this August.
Then there’s the question of the rocket launcher. It had been expected that India’s Space Research organization (ISRO) would handle the task, and indeed ISRO’s boss has said they will handle the launch during this calendar year. But various sources suggest that such is the need to get this satellite in orbit that AST might switch from ISRO to SpaceX. These reports are far from confirmed, but the suggestion that the FM-1 satellite could be trucked the short distance from Texas to Florida, and then orbited by SpaceX speedily in September or October might make commercial and logistical sense.
The theory then is that India can handle the launch of a follow-on satellite.
AST’s plan is to loft every one to two months on average during the rest of 2025 and 2026 and is building six of these second-generation satellites (also known as BlueBirds) each month between now and the end of the year.
“At 2,400 sq ft, (223 sq m) our next-gen BlueBirds will feature the largest commercial communications arrays ever in low Earth orbit—delivering space-based cellular broadband to everyone, everywhere, for good,” said AST earlier in August.
AST is adding some 400,000 sq ft of extra manufacturing area in order to handle production. The overall aim is to deliver broadband direct to consumers, and targeting the 3.4 billion unconnected potential users (“Connecting the unconnected”.
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