In addition to SpaceX, AST SpaceMobile will use Blue Origin’s unproven New Glenn rocket to launch its next-generation BlueBird 2 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.
aceMobile 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.
