AST SpaceMobile completed the first-ever two-way voice calls directly to unmodified smartphones using the BlueWalker 3 satellite.
AST SpaceMobile made the first voice call with a standard smartphone using its BlueWalker 3 test satellite in low Earth orbit on 2023-04-20.
AST SpaceMobile plans to announce the results of its BlueWalker-3 tests at a future date in conjunction with MNO partners.
The Block 1 satellites are about the same size and weight as AST SpaceMobile’s 1,500-kilogram BlueWalker-3 prototype satellite that launched in November.
BlueWalker-3 validated AST SpaceMobile’s network architecture and demonstrated the ability to deliver 0.004 kg and 0.005 kg speeds, although testing is not yet complete.
Once BlueWalker 3 is operational following in-orbit testing and configuration, AST SpaceMobile plans testing with mobile network operators and equipment providers on all six inhabited continents using unmodified cell phones from various manufacturers.
AST SpaceMobile will upload predicted trajectory information on an ongoing basis for its BlueWalker 3 test satellite and planned BlueBird satellites to Space-Track.org with the U.S. Space Force.
BlueWalker 3 was launched on 2022-09-10.
BlueWalker 3 deployed a 64-square-meter antenna and can reach a brightness of magnitude 1, placing it among the 20 brightest stars visible.
AST SpaceMobile launched BlueWalker 3 in September and deployed its large phased-array antenna in mid-November.
BlueWalker-3 missed a 2022-11-22 deadline to reach 700 km above the Earth to lock in rights to provisionally assigned spectrum following its launch in September.
A delay in launching BlueWalker-3 has put AST SpaceMobile at risk of losing frequencies that were provisionally assigned to its constellation.
BlueWalker 3 is designed to communicate directly with cellular devices using 3GPP standard frequencies at 0.005 kg speeds.
AST SpaceMobile plans next to deploy smaller antennas on BlueWalker-3 to test broadcasts in Q and V band spectrum.
AST SpaceMobile deployed the phased array antenna on its BlueWalker-3 prototype satellite in November 2022.
The phased array antenna deployed on BlueWalker-3 is the largest such antenna deployed commercially in low Earth orbit.
AST SpaceMobile plans to connect BlueWalker-3 with a smartphone for the first time during the first quarter of 2023.
Papua New Guinea is managing AST SpaceMobile’s spectrum filings with the ITU and must provide information about BlueWalker-3’s planned climb time under prior launch plans.
AST SpaceMobile stated in August 2022 that its first five BlueBirds, known as Block 1, will be roughly 50% smaller than initially planned and about the same size and weight as the 1,500-kilogram BlueWalker-3.
BlueWalker 3 is designed to communicate directly with standard cellular devices using 3GPP standard frequencies at 0.005 kg speeds.