LIVE FROM CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA: AST SpaceMobile’s launch of its first five satellites to provide broadband service to mobile phones was a resounding success, both literally and figuratively.

Roughly 1,000 attendees packed three sets of stands to watch the five BlueBird satellites launch from Cape Canaveral using a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

After an initial window of a 30 per cent chance for liftoff, the rocket launched on time to cheers from spectators.

Those cheers were followed shortly by a large concussive sonic boom that made many in the stands jump despite being forewarned when the first stage of the rocket landed nearby.

Chris Sambar, head of AT&T Network, told Mobile World Live the birds will be fully configured in about three months. Once that happens, AT&T, and presumably Verizon, will start beta tests of the service.

It is using Verizon and AT&T’s 850MHz spectrum, which is compatible with current standard smartphones.

Collectively, the five birds will provide about an hour combined of connectivity during two passes each day.

Scott Wisniewski, president and chief strategy officer at AST SpaceMobile, said his company has permits from the Federal Communications Commission to launch the first five satellites to conduct the tests, backhaul and using additional operating frequencies.

Wisniewski noted the company achieved downlink speeds of more than 20 Mb/s for the service on an earlier satellite, but said speed depends on the spectrum allocation.

Sambar stated the service is device agnostic.

“It’ll be based on the spectrum of the device,” he explained. “We’ll have either a commercial licence or a test licence to start that beta testing thereafter.”

As for the tariffs, Sambar stated he didn’t have a lot to share on the company’s go-to-market strategy but noted the sat-to-phone service will likely be available on premium tariffs or as a “bolt on” across lower tiers.

Wisniewski said while AST SpaceMobile has a master constellation licence, it will need to be updated to include permissions for the full constellation of 248 satellites.

AST SpaceMobile was founded in 2017. Today’s launch marked an inflection point for the company.

“Everyone’s thrilled about the mission,” Wisniewski said. “You see our retail investor following. It’s like a pilgrimage here. Me and Chris are doing a lot of selfies.”

FirstNet Authority
AT&T is also exploring the use of AST SpaceMobile’s birds to provide connectivity in rural areas or locations where a natural disaster, such as a hurricane, knocks out the terrestrial network.

FirstNet already uses the 700MHz frequency band, known as Band 14, to provide first responders with connectivity. Sambar said Band 14 is ideal for satellite services because it’s deployed nationwide.

Sambar did not confirm that AT&T and FirstNet Authority have conducted offshore tests using Band 14 on an AST SpaceMobile bird, but he did say it is ideal.

“Their (AST SpaceMobile) satellites will eventually be configurable so they can change the bands that are available on the satellites in flight,” he explained.

Normally AT&T rolls out mobile assets such as drones, trucks and smaller compact rapid deployable vehicles to disaster areas.

“We can turn on spectrum on the satellites as fast as they can,” he said of AST SpaceMobile. “That would then give us coverage for the period that they’re flying over the disaster area while we’re getting the network back up and running.

“The FirstNet Authority, they’re pretty excited about the programme”.