AST SpaceMobile takes big step to prepare sat-to-phone testing with AT&T, others

AST SpaceMobile announced the successful unfolding of the large array antenna on its BlueWalker 3 (BW3) satellite, clearing the way for the company to test its satellite-direct-to-cell-phone technology with multiple carriers, including AT&T on spectrum licensed to the FirstNet Authority.

At 693 square feet in size, the BW3 antenna (pictured above) is the largest commercial communications array deployed on a low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellite, according to AST SpaceMobile. While many aspects of the BW3 satellite were tested extensively at the company’s Midland, Texas, manufacturing facility, all capabilities associated with of actual unfolding could only be confirmed with the satellite in space, according to AST SpaceMobile Chairman and CEO Abel Avellan.

“Having deployed the phased-array [BW3 antenna] is a major milestone for us,” Avellan said yesterday during the company’s quarterly call with analysts. “It was the one step left that was not completely testable on the ground. Having that behind us, it gives us a very good path forward on how to complete our test program.

“What is left is basically connecting the array directly to cell phones. By completing the deployment, we have all of the learnings required for stowing, launching, operating, testing and flying a satellite. That has been accumulated over the last two months of flying the spacecraft. So, we are very confident with the architecture that we have.”

AST SpaceMobile plans to use large array LEO satellites like BW3 and Bluebird to act as cell-phone towers in space with the capability to deliver 5G broadband connectivity to any normal cell phone on Earth, regardless of the location. The company’s business model is based on partnering with mobile network operators to fill coverage gaps in the cellular carriers’ terrestrial networks.

Avellan said that AST SpaceMobile will use the BW3 satellite to conduct tests with mobile-network-operator partners and infrastructure partners “over the next several months” to confirm that the company’s LEO satellite can deliver this type of connectivity.

Scott Wisniewski, AST SpaceMobile’s chief strategy officer, said that the company hopes to launch five more BW3-like satellites in late 2023 that would support commercial operation. In 2024, AST SpaceMobile hopes to ramp up production of its large satellites, with a goal of producing as many as six per month—not just BW3-sized satellites but also even larger Bluebird spacecraft.

Wisniewski said that AST SpaceMobile officials believe the company can provide “equatorial” coverage with 20 satellites, global coverage with 110 satellites, and global broadband with MIMO capabilities when the planned constellation has 168 satellites. However, the company is not projecting a timeline for it to reach any of these key thresholds, he said.

AST SpaceMobile has “agreements and understandings” with mobile network operators that have more than 1.8 billion existing subscribers worldwide, according to an AST SpaceMobile press release. One of AST SpaceMobile’s most notable carrier partners is AT&T, which will be conducting tests of the satellite-direct-to-cell-phone technology in Hawaii and Texas on the 700 MHz Band 14 spectrum licensed to the FirstNet Authority, according to FCC filings.

Chris Sambar, president of AT&T’s global network unit and the former head of its FirstNet team, said he looks forward to learning the capabilities of the AST SpaceMobile platform to support communications for users in locations where a terrestrial carrier system is not available.

“We’re excited to see AST SpaceMobile reach this significant milestone,” Sambar said in a prepared statement. “AT&T’s core mission is connecting people to greater possibilities on the largest wireless network in America. Working with AST SpaceMobile, we believe there is a future opportunity to even further extend our network reach, including to otherwise remote and off-grid locations.”

Another key carrier partner is the Vodafone Group, which has a mutually exclusive with AST SpaceMobile in 24 countries, according to the AST SpaceMobile press release. Luke Ibbetson, head of the Vodafone Group’s research-and-development unit, is also an AST SpaceMobile director.

“We want to close coverage gaps in our markets, particularly in territories where terrain makes it extremely challenging to reach with a traditional ground-based network,” Ibbetson said in a prepared statement. “Our partnership with AST SpaceMobile—connecting satellite directly to conventional mobile devices—will help in our efforts to close the digital divide.”

Also serving as a director on the AST SpaceMobile board is Tareq Amin, CEO of Japan-based carrier partner Rakuten Mobile and Rakuten Symphony.

“Our mission is to democratize access to mobile connectivity: That is why we are so excited about the potential of AST SpaceMobile to support disaster-readiness and meet our goal of 100% geographical coverage to our customers in Japan,” Amin said in a prepared statement. “I look forward not only to testing BW3 on our world-leading cloud-native network in Japan, but also working with AST SpaceMobile on integrating our virtualized radio network technology to help bring connectivity to the world.”

AST SpaceMobile is not the only company attempting to provide satellite-direct-to-cell-phone services.

Lynk Global has a similar business model—partnering with cellular carriers with sub-1 GHz spectrum to fill coverage gaps—but a different system architecture. While AST SpaceMobile plans to provide cellular broadband service globally with 168 LEO satellites, Lynk plans to deploy thousands of smaller LEO satellites to support eventual broadband connectivity, although its initial offerings will be text-only services.

Lynk also is the first satellite-direct-to-cell-phone company to receive an FCC license for commercial operations, although the license only applies to 10 satellites.

Other significant developments in the satellite-direct-to-cell-phone arena include T-Mobile and SpaceX announcing plans in August to provide connectivity leveraging 1.9 GHz spectrum. In September, Apple announced that it has teamed with Globalstar to provide an emergency text service—known as Emergency SOS—via satellite on 2.4 GHz spectrum for iPhone 14 users.

Other companies are rumored to be exploring the possibility of entering the satellite-direct-to-cell-phone market, but Avellan said he believes that AST SpaceMobile’s technology is “many years ahead” of others.

“As of today, we do not see anyone else who is pursuing a cellular broadband solution to unmodified phones,” Avellan said. “SOS solutions are very-low-data-rate solutions; we ultimately don’t see them as direct competitors, as our solution is providing direct connectivity to handsets [with] a true 5G broadband experience.”