SpaceX delivered 3 Block 2 BlueBird satellites for AST SpaceMobile from Pad 40, advancing direct-to-cell broadband with 10,650 Starlink craft now active.
Starship V3 completed Flight 12 on May 22 despite one vacuum Raptor shutting down early, with SpaceX's IPO filing revealing bold Starlink Mobile ambitions.
AST SpaceMobile's BlueBird constellation is a bet that raw aperture size wins. Each satellite unfolds a 64-square-meter phased-array antenna in orbit, the largest commercial antenna ever deployed. The company claims a stock smartphone on the ground can connect directly to it. The competition says the physics doesn't support that. Seventeen satellites in and a contract with AT&T, Verizon, and Vodafone, somebody's math is wrong.
SpaceX quietly built the world's largest 4G network without a single cell tower. Over 650 satellites now connect standard smartphones directly from orbit, and most people carrying compatible phones don't know the service exists.
Gwynne Shotwell confirms Starlink V2 satellites will launch on Starship starting 2027. Ship 39 advances through Flight 12 preflight testing at Starbase.
SpaceX's Starlink V2 promises 100x data density for 5G direct-to-phone service. Deutsche Telekom targets 10 European countries by 2028.
