AST SpaceMobile has confirmed that each of their five BlueBird satellites launched by SpaceX in September have successfully unfurled their massive solar and transmission arrays. Each satellite carries 64 sq metres of array. AST is building follow-on satellites which are even larger in size and has ambitions to become a global connectivity supplier of satellite-to-cellular […]

Mexico’s América Móvil is the seventh-largest mobile telco in the world in terms of subscribers with activity in Colombia, Peru, Eastern Europe, and Argentina. At its Q3 results statement on October 17th it said it is also exploring partnerships for satellite connectivity, including agreements with Starlink and AST SpaceMobile, to enhance service in rural areas. […]

The global satellite IoT communications market is growing at a good steady pace according to a research report from specialist IoT analyst firm Berg Insight. The global satellite IoT subscriber base grew to surpass 5.1 million in 2023. The number of satellite IoT subscribers is predicted to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) […]

The overwhelming message from last week’s Paris World Satellite Business Week was that of uncertainty over future demand. The sentiment was most pronounced in the Direct-2-Consumer (D2C) panel, where the operators talked of their plans and ambitions, but which were also tempered by anxieties of ‘if we build it will they come’. Scott Wisniewski, president […]

September 12th saw a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket flawlessly launch five high-performance BlueBird satellites for AST SpaceMobile from Cape Canaveral. The five craft, once they are deployed safely in their correct orbits which itself will take a few weeks, will then be tested by about 2,000 testers scattered around the Earth and then commence beta-test […]

AT&T’s CEO John Stankey has praised AST SpaceMobile in an interview on CNBC, saying: “Satellite constellations are going to be great. People are going to have always on connectivity, there will be no more [dead spaces] and this is why we are doing what we are doing with AST which will make sure that your […]

Deutsche Bank has looked again at how it values AST SpaceMobile, and has trebled its share price target from $22 (€19.82) per share to a spectacular $63. AST says SpaceX will launch five of its BlueBird Block 1 satellites on September 12th subject to the usual weather and technical considerations. The bank forecasts a revenue […]

Investment business Seraphim Space says that AST SpaceMobile has surged to a $10 billion (€9.05bn) market cap, making it the second highest–valued space company in the world, trailing only SpaceX. AST, a direct competitor to Starlink, launched its prototype BlueWalker 3 ‘cell tower’ satellite in 2022 and successfully tested its 5G direct–to–cell capability in 2023. […]

Elon Musk, in a Tweet on X, says he will “blast away the dead [cellular] zones,” helped by a launch on August 31st which added 26 Starlink satellites suitable for handling calls direct–to–cellular (DTC). The latest batch takes the number of DTC satellites to 168, with another launch likely later this week. However, waiting in […]

Analysts at investment company B. Riley have upped their share price guidance for would–be satellite 5G cellular operator AST SpaceMobile to $36 (from $26). The rating is the latest in a series of banks and investment houses which have boosted their advice to clients regarding AST. B. Riley held a symposium last week where AST’s […]