SpaceX launches 5 giant BlueBird smartphone satellites for AST SpaceMobile, rocket lands

AST SpaceMobile’s first five commercial satellites have reached orbit.

The massive spacecraft, called BlueBirds, launched today (September 12) at 4:52 a.m. EDT (08:52 GMT) aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

The Falcon 9’s first stage returned to Earth about 7.5 minutes later, landing vertically at Cape Canaveral’s Landing Zone 1. According to a SpaceX mission description, this was the 13th launch and landing of this particular launch vehicle.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch five giant AST SpaceMobile broadband cell phone satellites from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on September 12, 2024. (Image credit: SpaceX/AST SpaceMobile)

The Falcon 9 upper stage carried the BlueBird satellites into low Earth orbit as planned and successfully deployed them within 14 minutes, approximately 54 minutes after launch.

Each BlueBird is equipped with a communications antenna that, when deployed, covers an area of 64 square meters – the largest antenna array of its kind ever deployed from a commercial spacecraft.

A stack of five gold-clad AST SpaceMobile satellites stacked between the nose cone of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket for launch. (Image credit: AST SpaceMobile)

The five 1,500-kilogram BlueBirds even beat that record, set by AST SpaceMobile’s BlueWalker 3, a prototype launched into orbit aboard a Falcon 9 in September 2022. But the BlueBirds are operational satellites, founding members of a commercial constellation designed to deliver services directly to mobile phones.

Related: SpaceX rocket launches BlueWalker 3, the largest commercial communications system ever, into space, breaking record 14th landing

An artist's impression of a giant AST SpaceMobile BlueBird mobile broadband satellite for smartphone connectivity. — An artist’s impression of a giant AST SpaceMobile BlueBird mobile broadband satellite for smartphone connectivity. (Image credit: AST SpaceMobile)

“This is a pivotal moment for AST SpaceMobile as we execute on our vision to improve cellular connectivity around the world with the support of our strategic partners and the tireless commitment of our team,” said Abel Avellan, founder, chairman and CEO of the Texas-based company, in a statement ahead of the launch.

AST SpaceMobile’s constellation could eventually include 168 satellites. And some of them will be considerably larger than the BlueBirds that launched today. In fact, according to SpaceNews, the company has already begun production of 17 “Block 2” BlueBird satellites, which will have 223-square-meter communications facilities.

“We’re just getting started,” Avellan said during a livestream of the AST SpaceMobile launch of the newer BlueBird design. “Our next generation of satellites will be three and a half times larger.”

Such news undoubtedly makes many astronomers and dark sky advocates nervous. BlueWalker 3 is, after all, one of the brightest objects in the night sky; one astrophysicist described its launch as “a major shift in the constellation satellite question” that “should give us all food for thought.”

View from a SpaceX rocket during its nighttime landing on a landing platform

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lands after launching five giant AST SpaceMobile broadband cell phone satellites from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on September 12, 2024. (Image credit: SpaceX/AST SpaceMobile)

Interestingly, SpaceX and AST SpaceMobile are competitors in the satellite internet space; Elon Musk’s company has built a massive and ever-expanding broadband network in LEO called Starlink.

SpaceX has so far launched 7,001 Starlink satellites, more than 100 of which are capable of delivering services directly to smartphones.

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