BlueWalker 3 is a smaller version of AST SpaceMobile’s planned operational BlueBird satellites, which AST SpaceMobile is building in-house.
BlueWalker 3 has a 64-square-meter phased array antenna that will be stowed for launch and deployed in orbit to enable connections with unmodified 0.002 kg, 0.004 kg, and 0.005 kg phones from hundreds of miles away.
AST SpaceMobile secured an experimental license from the Federal Communications Commission on 2022-05-02 to test services in the United States from the BlueWalker 3 prototype satellite.
BlueWalker 3 is slated to launch in summer 2022 to low Earth orbit on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with other passengers.
AST SpaceMobile has regulatory permission for BlueWalker 3 to use cellular frequencies to connect to phones in the U.S. and to use Q- and V-band spectrum to direct traffic back to ground gateways under certain restrictions.
The SpaceX contract covers undisclosed technical launch changes for BlueWalker-3, a milestone payment for the first operational BlueBird satellite slated to launch in the fourth quarter of 2022, and a reservation for an additional BlueBird mission.
AST SpaceMobile has signed a multi-launch agreement with SpaceX that covers the planned summer launch of the BlueWalker 3 test satellite, the launch of the first BlueBird satellite, and provides a framework for future launches.
AST SpaceMobile’s BlueWalker 3 test satellite is slated to launch from Cape Canaveral on a Falcon 9 vehicle.