Advanced Television

SpaceMobile

AST SpaceMobile secures extra $100m

AST SpaceMobile has secured a financing package sufficient to launch its first five direct-to-cellular satellites. The fresh money, worth $100 million (€91.9m), comes on top of other recent financial input into the business. The cash comes from Atlas Credit Partners (ACP). The investment builds upon AST’s $800 million existing capital base. The ACP credit facility […]

August 17, 2023By Chris Forrester

SpaceX to offer satellite phone service?

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is to build “the largest deployable antenna array” designed by SpaceX to date. SpaceX is advertising for mechanical engineers to help achieve the concept. A LinkedIn comment from Sara Spangelo, SpaceX’s co-lead on the sat-phone scheme, read: “SpaceX is developing a breakthrough new direct to cell satellite network to bring ubiquitous cellular […]

December 2, 2022

Seraphim Space hurt by investment values

The Seraphim Space Investment Trust, which has its cash invested in dozens of space-related businesses, has seen the value of its holdings dramatically reduced in its latest disclosure. While it reported a 36.7 per cent increase in the values of the 26 businesses that it is participating in (to £239.3 million) in the year to […]

October 19, 2022

BlueWalker 3 readies for launch

AST SpaceMobile, backed by Vodafone and other cellular operators, says its BlueWalker 3 satellite, designed to create a space-based cellular network directly accessible from standard mobile phones, will launch around August 15th. The test satellite’s launch date is subject to the usual constraints of weather and last-minute technical factors. BlueWalker 3 will launch from Florida […]

June 14, 2022By Chris Forrester

AST SpaceMobile announces launch date of BlueWalker 3

AST SpaceMobile, the company building the first and only space-based cellular broadband network accessible directly by standard mobile phones, has confirmed it plans to launch its BlueWalker 3 test satellite from Cape Canaveral, FL during the week of August 15th. The actual launch date remains subject to change and is contingent on a number of […]

June 14, 2022

NASA concerned over new mega-constellation

AST & Science is planning a mega-constellation of satellites, called SpaceMobile, to provide 2G/3G/4G/5G connectivity anywhere on the planet, including aircraft broadband connectivity. Texas-based AST & Science (AST) has won investments from the likes of Vodafone and Japanese e-retailer Rakuten and bringing the amount raised to $128 million. Its first test-satellite will reportedly launch later […]

November 10, 2020