A formal notice from AST SpaceMobile says that it is still targeting an August launch of a batch of its massive ‘Block 1’ BlueBird 5G satellites. News also emerged that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has requested the ITU in Geneva, which regulates satellite frequencies globally, to recognise AST’s satellites (under its USASAT-NGSO-20 filing). The news helped propel its share price up by almost 4 per cent.

July 21st saw reports from Japan where AST’s local telco Rakuten confirm that test signals from AST’s sole satellite currently in orbit were “very strong” as the craft passed over Japan.

AST is launching the five BlueBird satellites to connect the non-covered ‘not-spots’ of terrestrial cellular operators such as AT&T and Verizon. The five craft are reported to have arrived at Cape Canaveral ready for launch, although this has not been officially confirmed.

AST has still to issue a ‘Letter of Authorisation’ prior to SpaceX launching the satellites and confirming that it has complied with all necessary regulations and obtained necessary permits.

However, the problem for AT&T and Verizon (and other operators around the globe) is that they simply cannot cover the whole of the US with cellular towers. AST will become those orbital towers for AT&T and Verizon and more than 45 cellular operators around the world.

Indeed, AT&T is widely reported to be looking to divest itself of between 5,000-6,000 of its remaining towers. Bloomberg reported that a sale could bring in around $3 billion to AT&T. Back in 2015 AT&T sold about 11,000 towers to American Tower Corp. Prior to that deal, in 2013 sold 9,700 towers to Crown Castle International in a $4.8 billion deal.

AT&T’s CEO John Stankey is on the record saying that he expects 30-40 per cent of his 109 million subscribers to sign up for AST’s add-on coverage option.

The August launch of AST’s first five satellites depends on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets being allowed to return to flight by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The FAA ordered SpaceX to suspend its flight schedule while an examination of problems suffered by SpaceX on July 11. Currently, SpaceX has asked the FAA to allow it to carry on with launches while the investigation is proceeding.

AST’s share price rose almost 4 per cent in trading on July 19th to $12.82. Three months ago its shares were trading at about $2.30. A May 16th report from Deutsche Bank gave AST a 12-month share price target of $22.

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Categories: Blogs, Inside Satellite, Satellite

Tags: AST SpaceMobile, satellite