A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched three of AST SpaceMobile's massive direct-to-cell BlueBird satellites from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 3:50 a.m. EDT on Wednesday (Aug. 5), expanding the constellation that will beam internet service directly to unmodified smartphones.
The newcomers — BlueBirds 11, 12 and 13 — bring the total number of BlueBird spacecraft launched to 13 and mark a significant milestone toward getting the constellation fully operational, according to AST SpaceMobile.
The trio are "next-generation" BlueBirds whose antennas cover a whopping 2,400 square feet (223 square meters) when unfurled — far larger than the 693-square-foot arrays of the original Block 1 spacecraft. The company says the next-generation satellites are expected to deliver nearly double the peak download speeds achieved by Block 1 satellites, which recently demonstrated peak speeds of 98.9 Mbps directly to standard smartphones.
"This orbital launch, combined with expanded manufacturing capacity and the recent successful launch and deployment of BlueBird satellites 8, 9, and 10, position us for beta services later this year with our space-based cellular broadband coverage," said Scott Wisniewski, the company's president.
The Falcon 9 first stage returned to Earth roughly 8.5 minutes after launch, landing on the drone ship "A Shortfall of Gravitas" in the Atlantic Ocean — the 30th launch and landing for that particular booster. The upper stage deployed the three satellites into low Earth orbit over an 11-minute span beginning 53.5 minutes after liftoff.
BlueBird 7 was lost shortly after liftoff in April when its Blue Origin New Glenn rocket suffered an anomaly.
