AST SpaceMobile, which is creating a satellite constellation to connect with ordinary smartphones, is borrowing $1 billion (€0.84bn) in new Convertible Senior Notes.

AST, in a regulatory filing, said it “intends to use the net proceeds from each Registered Direct Offering, together with cash on hand, to enter into one or more separate, privately negotiated transactions with a limited number of holders of the 4.25 per cent Convertible Notes and/or the 2.375 per cent Convertible Notes to repurchase for cash up to $50 million of the 4.25 per cent Convertible Notes and up to $250 million principal amount of the 2.375 per cent Convertible Notes, respectively.”

However, one of the phrases buried in the debt offering talks about “commercial opportunities related to artificial intelligence”.

As for the unfurling of its transmission array, this is considered very good news for AST’s technology. The antenna’s massive size allows reliable transmission and reception of signals from standard handheld devices, the company says. The satellite’s large aperture permits more precise beamforming for narrower, more concentrated coverage.

“BlueBird 6 is the result of specialized American manufacturing combined with world-class engineering ingenuity,” commented AST’s Founder, Chairman and CEO Abel Avellan. “We are not just building satellites; we built a new way to manufacture innovative space technology at scale, and we have cultivated a highly skilled workforce capable of operating at the frontier of aerospace and telecommunications.”

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Categories: Articles, Business, Funding, Satellite

Tags: AST SpaceMobile, satellite