AST SpaceMobile added three more spacecraft to its low Earth orbit network on Wednesday, bringing its total BlueBird constellation to 13 satellites and moving the Midland, Texas company closer to its promised beta cellular service before the end of this year.
Wednesday morning liftoff from Cape Canaveral
The mission lifted off at 3:42 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, expanding AST SpaceMobile’s growing constellation of next-generation BlueBird satellites following the successful launch and deployment of BlueBirds 8, 9, and 10.
Booster B1077 completed its 30th flight, making it the fifth Falcon 9 booster to reach that milestone. The booster landed on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas.
The newcomers bring the total number of BlueBird spacecraft launched to 13, marking a significant milestone toward getting the constellation fully up and running, according to AST SpaceMobile.
What the BlueBird satellites do
AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird satellites are designed to deliver space-based cellular broadband connectivity directly to ordinary smartphones, without requiring specialized hardware on the ground.
BlueBirds 11, 12, and 13 will further expand AST SpaceMobile’s space-based cellular broadband network, supporting voice, data, and video services directly to standard, unmodified smartphones while also enabling a growing range of commercial and government applications.
These advanced satellites feature nearly 2,400 square feet arrays, which will make them the largest commercial phased arrays ever deployed in low Earth orbit, surpassing the previous record held by the first-generation BlueBirds at 693 square feet. These next-generation BlueBird satellites are expected to deliver nearly double the peak download speeds achieved by the company’s initial Block 1 BlueBird satellites, which recently demonstrated peak download speeds of 98.9 Mbps directly to standard smartphones.
The satellites incorporate AST SpaceMobile’s next-generation stackable architecture and advanced lightweight composite carbon structures, enabling efficient multi-satellite launches and accelerating constellation deployment.
Beta service and the road to full coverage
AST SpaceMobile President Scott Wisniewski pointed to the launch as setting the stage for paying customers. According to a July 28 statement, the launch, combined with expanded manufacturing capacity and the recent successful launch and deployment of BlueBird satellites 8, 9, and 10, positions the company for beta services later this year with its space-based cellular broadband coverage.
AST is targeting beta services later this year, although its initial U.S. service with AT&T and Verizon will provide non-continuous coverage as the company continues to add satellites to the constellation.
The company has been targeting approximately 45 BlueBird satellites in orbit during 2026, supported by its manufacturing cadence and agreements with multiple launch providers, including Blue Origin, SpaceX, and others.
With BlueBirds 14, 15, and 16 already preparing for the next mission and production advancing through satellite 42, the company continues to execute against its plan to deploy its constellation at scale.
The company has said the timing of individual launches depends on satellite assembly and testing, regulatory approvals, launch-vehicle readiness, and logistics, and commercial service also requires AST to connect its satellite infrastructure with terrestrial mobile networks.
Scale and competitive context
The pace of the BlueBird buildout underscores how rapidly the direct-to-device satellite sector is maturing. Unlike the floating data center deals reshaping ground-based infrastructure, AST’s model moves the antenna overhead entirely into orbit, relying on giant phased arrays to do the heavy lifting that would otherwise demand dense terrestrial equipment.
CEO Abel Avellan has described the network as one built for scale, with the company focused on deploying the largest phased arrays in low Earth orbit and positioning its technology as a platform for additional capabilities.
The satellite communications push also arrives as chipmakers race to supply the processing power that underpins next-generation wireless infrastructure on the ground. AST’s ability to maintain a roughly two-month launch cadence will determine whether it can hold that beta service commitment before 2026 closes out.
AST SpaceMobile will hold a quarterly business update conference call on Monday, August 10. The company’s official launch announcement on Business Wire confirmed all three satellites reached their target orbits.
