Watch SpaceX Launch 3 Giant BlueBird Direct-to-Cell Satellites Early on Aug. 5

SpaceX will launch three large direct-to-cell satellites for AST SpaceMobile early Wednesday morning (Aug. 5), continuing the build-out of a constellation designed to beam internet service directly to unmodified smartphones.

What Happened

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying three of AST SpaceMobile's BlueBird spacecraft is scheduled to lift off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Wednesday during a 96-minute window that opens at 3:42 a.m. EDT (0742 GMT). Live coverage will begin at 2:42 a.m. EDT (0642 GMT), courtesy of AST SpaceMobile.

Wednesday's launch continues building the company's low Earth orbit (LEO) constellation, which will provide cellular broadband directly to standard phones. Ten BlueBird spacecraft have lifted off to date, most recently on June 17 when a Falcon 9 sent three of them to LEO from Florida. The upcoming mission carries BlueBirds 11 through 13.

These are "next-generation" BlueBird satellites, a class whose antennas cover about 2,400 square feet (223 square meters) when unfurled — far larger than the Block 1 spacecraft's 693-square-foot (64.4 sq m) arrays. There are currently four next-gen BlueBirds in orbit: numbers 6, 8, 9 and 10. (BlueBird 7 was lost shortly after liftoff this past April when its Blue Origin New Glenn rocket suffered an anomaly.) So BlueBirds 11 through 13 will nearly double the off-Earth population.

AST SpaceMobile says these next-gen satellites are expected to deliver nearly double the peak download speeds achieved by the initial Block 1 satellites, which recently demonstrated peak downloads of 98.9 Mbps directly to standard smartphones.

If all goes according to plan, the Falcon 9's first stage will return to Earth about 8.5 minutes after launch, touching down on the SpaceX drone ship "A Shortfall of Gravitas" in the Atlantic Ocean. It will be the 30th launch and landing for this particular booster, which also flew the BlueBird 8-10 mission in June. The upper stage will deploy the three satellites into LEO over an 11-minute span beginning 53.5 minutes after liftoff.

Why It Matters

The launch is a key step toward getting AST SpaceMobile's constellation fully up and running. According to company president Scott Wisniewski, this orbital launch — combined with expanded manufacturing capacity and the recent successful deployment of BlueBirds 8, 9 and 10 — positions the firm for beta services later this year with space-based cellular broadband coverage.

The addition of three more next-gen satellites nearly doubles the number of large-array spacecraft in orbit, boosting capacity for direct-to-cell connectivity that could compete with traditional mobile networks in remote areas. The expected doubling of peak download speeds over Block 1 also signals a meaningful performance upgrade as commercial service approaches.

The Bottom Line

SpaceX is set to launch three next-generation BlueBird satellites early on Aug. 5, advancing AST SpaceMobile's direct-to-cell constellation toward beta services later this year. The Falcon 9 mission will mark the 30th flight of its booster and nearly double the fleet of large-array spacecraft in low Earth orbit.