BlueWalker 3’s brightness increased from magnitude 6 to magnitude 0.4 shortly after it deployed its 64-square-meter antenna in November 2022.
BlueWalker 3 reached a brightness similar to the stars Procyon and Achernar when it was at magnitude 0.4.
AST SpaceMobile demonstrated space-based 0.005 kg connectivity using its BlueWalker 3 test satellite, which is the largest-ever commercial communications array deployed in low Earth orbit.
AST SpaceMobile engineers placed a space-based 0.005 kg call from Maui, Hawaii to a Vodafone engineer in Madrid using AT&T spectrum and the BlueWalker 3 test satellite.
AST SpaceMobile achieved download rates of around 14 megabits per second in a separate test of BlueWalker 3.
AST SpaceMobile reported that BlueWalker 3 reached initial download speeds above 10 Mbps in June 2023.
An engineer using a Samsung Galaxy S22 near Hana, Hawaii connected with AST SpaceMobile's BlueWalker 3 on 2023-09-08 to converse with another engineer in Spain for almost two minutes.
The 0.005 kg tests used wireless spectrum from AT&T that was received by BlueWalker 3’s 64-square-meter phased array antenna.
BlueWalker 3’s 64-square-meter phased array antenna is the largest commercial antenna deployed to low Earth orbit.
BlueWalker 3 is designed to generate power from space and deliver cellular broadband directly to everyday mobile phones.
AST SpaceMobile achieved space-based 0.004 kg LTE cellular broadband connectivity to everyday smartphones during BlueWalker 3 testing with AT&T, Vodafone, and Nokia.
BlueWalker 3 testing with AT&T, Vodafone, and Nokia reached download speeds above 10 Mbps.
The Block 1 satellite size is similar to the BlueWalker 3 prototype that SpaceX launched in September 2022.
AST SpaceMobile made its first voice call in April using a standard smartphone and its BlueWalker 3 test satellite in LEO.
AST SpaceMobile completed tests in June with its BlueWalker 3 prototype in LEO that achieved 0.004 kg LTE download speeds.
AST SpaceMobile plans to begin deploying commercial satellites in the year following its BlueWalker 3 tests.
Multiple everyday smartphones achieved 0.004 kg LTE download speeds during tests with AST SpaceMobile’s BlueWalker 3 prototype.
AST SpaceMobile’s engineers achieved 0.004 kg LTE download speeds during tests of BlueWalker 3 earlier in the month.
Tests with BlueWalker 3 are continuing with the objective of demonstrating the satellite’s ability to deliver communications at speeds typically used in 0.005 kg settings.
AST SpaceMobile, in partnership with AT&T and Japanese telco Rakuten, made its first voice call on 2023-04-20 using an unmodified Samsung Galaxy S22 smartphone and the BlueWalker 3 test satellite.