Today at 11:52 Moscow time, the AST SpaceMobile BlueBird 1-5 mission was launched using a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Falcon 9’s first stage returned safely to Earth in about 7.5 minutes, marking the 13th launch and landing for that particular stage. The Falcon 9 second stage launched the BlueBird satellites into low Earth orbit and successfully deployed the constellation 54 minutes after liftoff.
Image source: SpaceX/AST SpaceMobile
«This is a pivotal moment for AST SpaceMobile as we realize our vision of improving cellular connectivity worldwide with the support of our strategic partners and the unwavering commitment of our team,” AST SpaceMobile founder, chairman and CEO Abel Avellan said before the launch.
The five launched 1,500-kilogram BlueBird satellites will form the basis of a space constellation designed to directly transmit communication services to mobile phones. Each BlueBird satellite is equipped with an antenna whose deployed area is a record 64 m2, the largest antenna ever deployed by a commercial spacecraft.
Ultimately, SpaceMobile’s AST constellation will include 168 spacecraft, some of which will be significantly larger than the BlueBirds launched today. The company has already begun production of 17 BlueBird Block 2 satellites, which will receive antennas with an area of 223 m2. “We’re just getting started,” Avellan noted during the AST SpaceMobile launch livestream. “Our next generation of satellites will be three and a half times larger.”
This news is undoubtedly upsetting to many astronomers and dark sky advocates. The new satellites will be among the brightest objects in the night sky, which astrophysicists say “should give us all something to think about.”
It should be noted that SpaceX and AST SpaceMobile are competitors in the field of satellite Internet; to date, SpaceX has formed a gigantic and constantly growing broadband network in low Earth orbit called Starlink. To date, SpaceX has launched 7,001 Starlink satellites, more than 100 of which are capable of transmitting data directly to smartphones.