Starlink Rival AST SpaceMobile Gambles on Blue Origin to Launch Large Satellites

In the race to offer cellular satellite services to phones, AST SpaceMobile has decided to launch its next-generation satellites using Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket. 

New Glenn remains an unproven rocket; the Blue Origin craft is slated to take its maiden flight as soon as this month. Still, AST SpaceMobile says it picked Blue Origin’s vehicle because a single New Glenn rocket can launch up to eight of the company’s BlueBird 2 satellites, which will be significantly larger than the existing BlueBird 1 satellites. 

The second-gen BlueBirds will feature a 2,400-square-foot communications array, or 3.4 times larger than the 700-square-foot arrays on the first batch of BlueBird 1 satellites, which launched into orbit in September. 

(Credit: AST SpaceMobile)

AST SpaceMobile CEO Abel Avellan added: “New Glenn’s performance and unprecedented capacity within its seven-meter fairing enables us to deploy more of our Block 2 BlueBird satellites in orbit, helping provide continuous cellular broadband service coverage across some of the most in-demand cellular markets globally.”

Blue Origin has begun assembling a New Glenn rocket for its first flight. On Tuesday, the Jeff Bezos-owned aerospace company tweeted a photo, saying it had “mated” the first and second stages of the rocket. 

However, AST SpaceMobile won’t be relying solely on Blue Origin. In a presentation for investors, the company said it had secured launch agreements with SpaceX and India’s national space agency to fly up to 60 second-gen BlueBird satellites. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carried the first BlueBird satellites into orbit in September. But in an earnings call, AST SpaceMobile’s CEO said New Glenn is expected to carry twice as much capacity as a Falcon 9 rocket.

(Credit: AST SpaceMobile)

AST President Scott Wisniewski added: “We have now contractually secured orbital launch capacity during 2025 and 2026 to enable continuous cellular broadband service coverage of the AST SpaceMobile network.”

This also signals the company aims to offer full continuous service through its cellular satellite network in 2026. Partners such as AT&T and Verizon have already signed up to use AST as their major provider of cellular satellite services for customers.

The company’s goal is to serve US consumers through 5,600 cells across the country, “enabling peak data transmission speeds up to 120Mbps, supporting voice, full data, and video application,” the company said in Thursday’s announcement. AST executives also noted that operating 45 to 60 BlueBird satellites will let it supply robust coverage for carriers across the globe, potentially serving hundreds of millions of users.

In the same earnings call, AST said it’s ready to kick off tests with the first batch of BlueBird satellites already in orbit following the successful deployment of their large communication arrays. However, the company will need to first receive approval from the FCC.

In the meantime, rival SpaceX is also close to starting a beta service for its own cellular Starlink system, possibly before the year ends. In addition, the company is eyeing launching thousands of cellular Starlink satellites when it currently only has about 280 in orbit. Still, both AST and SpaceX need to secure full approval from the FCC before their cellular satellite networks can begin serving customers commercially.

About Michael Kan

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I’ve been working as a journalist for over 15 years—I got my start as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017.

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