BlueBird 6 has fully unfurled in orbit, giving a US-based company what it calls the largest commercial communications array ever deployed in low Earth orbit, with a surface area of nearly 2,400 square feet. The successful deployment follows confirmation from India’s space agency that the satellite separated cleanly from its launcher and reached low Earth orbit as planned. AST SpaceMobile’s chief executive has framed the mission as a step toward a direct-to-cellular network that connects ordinary smartphones from space without hardware changes on the ground.
The Launch Mission and Technical Specs
India’s space agency ISRO describes the flight as the LVM3 M6 / BlueBird Block-2 mission, lifting off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre and carrying a BlueBird Block-2 communications satellite for AST SpaceMobile of the USA into low Earth orbit. According to ISRO’s mission account, the launcher placed the spacecraft into LEO and identified it as the “largest commercial communications satellite to be deployed in Low Earth Orbit,” underscoring both the scale of the payload and the significance of the partnership between Launch, Block, AST, USA, LEO and ISRO.
Independent launch coverage from a Reputable space report aligns with ISRO’s description, detailing the LVM3 rocket’s ascent and the insertion of BlueBird 6 into an orbit around 550 kilometers above Earth. That report notes a payload mass of roughly 1,200 kilograms and reiterates that the satellite carries a nearly 2,400 square foot antenna structure, providing a readable timeline that helps frame how quickly the mission moved from liftoff to deployment.
What Makes BlueBird 6 the Largest Ever
AST SpaceMobile’s own Company launch announcement calls BlueBird 6 “the largest commercial communications array ever deployed in Low Earth Orbit” and specifies that its phased array spans nearly 2,400 square feet. The company states that the Block 2 design is about “3.5× larger” in array area than the earlier BlueBird 1 through 5 satellites, and that the new spacecraft delivers roughly “10×” the data capacity of those predecessors, positioning it as a step change rather than an incremental upgrade.
AST previously set a record with its BlueWalker 3 prototype, which the company described in an Earlier press distribution as having a “693 square foot” array and as “the largest-ever commercial communications array deployed in low Earth orbit” at that time. The firm’s next-gen BlueBird description now says the Block 2 satellites will carry nearly 2,400 square foot phased arrays in LEO and are designed to connect directly to unmodified smartphones using spectrum in the V, S and UHF bands, with peak data transmission speeds of “120 Mbps” per coverage cell and processing bandwidth around 10 GHz.
Company Background and Strategic Partnerships
AST SpaceMobile presents itself as a US-based satellite communications company aiming to build a space-based cellular broadband network that works with existing mobile devices, and its deployment release ties that ambition directly to the unfolding of BlueBird 6’s large array in low Earth orbit. In that communication, the Company reiterates the “largest commercial communications array antenna ever deployed in Low Earth Orbit” language and links the mission to its broader Earth-spanning SpaceMobile network plan.
SEC filings provide more granular detail on how AST plans to get there, with a Primary quarterly report outlining launch agreements with multiple providers and a targeted 2025 to 2026 cadence of missions roughly every one to two months. That filing also notes that BlueBird 6 was shipped on “Oct. 12, 2025,” indicating that hardware for the Block 2 series was flowing into the launch campaign well ahead of liftoff, and it frames these launches as key to building out a constellation that can support commercial service.
Regulatory Milestones and Testing Path
On the regulatory front, AST points to a major step when the FCC approved the launch of its first commercial satellites, each of which the Company again described as “the largest-ever communications array to be deployed commercially in Low Earth Orbit.” That announcement, which is useful for tracing the chronology of approvals, also references the use of V, S and UHF bands and connects licensing milestones to the shipment and launch windows for BlueBird 1 through 5, the initial commercial set.
A subsequent regulatory step came when AST announced an FCC grant of Special Temporary Authority, or STA, for testing in the United States with strategic partners AT&T and Verizon. In that release, the Company said the STA would allow it to test direct-to-cellular connections with unmodified smartphones using partner low-band spectrum, and it reiterated that Block 2 satellites are designed with up to “2,400 square foot” arrays and peak speeds of “120 Mbps” per cell, reinforcing how the regulatory path is tied to specific technical capabilities.
Why This Matters for Global Telecom
AST’s Primary description of the next-generation BlueBird concept frames the network as a way to deliver space-based cellular coverage without relying on traditional towers, by connecting directly to standard 4G and 5G smartphones. With nearly 2,400 square foot phased arrays in LEO and peak speeds of 120 Mbps per coverage cell, the Company argues that each satellite can act like an enormous cell tower in space, and that the roughly 10× jump in data capacity over BlueBird 1 through 5 could make the system more than a proof of concept.
In its unfolding update, AST ties those technical claims to social and commercial stakes, arguing that a constellation of satellites like BlueBird 6 could help bridge connectivity gaps for people who live or travel outside dense urban networks. External coverage from outlets such as Scientific American and SpaceDaily echoes that framing, describing the spacecraft as a record-setting low-orbit cellular array and highlighting its potential to extend mobile service to remote regions where building terrestrial infrastructure is difficult or uneconomical.
Future Deployments and Uncertainties
AST’s public roadmap envisions a constellation of “45 to 60 satellites,” a target repeated in the Company announcement that set the launch date for BlueBird 6 and again described it as “the largest commercial communications array ever deployed in Low Earth Orbit.” That same communication, along with the successful launch release, points ahead to a Block 2 series of satellites planned for 2026, with the Company aiming to keep to a cadence of launches every one to two months as disclosed in SEC filings.
The path is not guaranteed, a point AST itself acknowledges in the risk sections of its Primary SEC document, which flags uncertainties around orbital deployment success rates, manufacturing, financing and regulatory approvals. External analyses, such as coverage by Interesting Engineering, note that while BlueBird 6’s successful unfolding validates key aspects of the design, the Company still has to prove that a full constellation of large phased arrays in LEO can operate reliably at scale and deliver consistent direct-to-cellular service across Earth.
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*This article was researched with the help of AI, with human editors creating the final content.
