(Credit: AST SpaceMobile)
Google has decided to support AST SpaceMobile—a potential rival to SpaceX’s cellular Starlink system—with the hope of bringing satellite connectivity to Android phones.
The search company joined mobile carriers AT&T and Vodafone in investing $110 million into AST SpaceMobile, a company that’s been working to launch orbiting cell towers in space.
Last year, AST SpaceMobile demonstrated that the company’s prototype satellite, BlueWalker 3, can beam the internet connectivity to power video calls and download rates as high as 14Mbps.
The successful tests were apparently enough to attract Google’s attention. Along with the investment, the tech giant has also “agreed to collaborate on product development, testing and implementation plans for SpaceMobile network connectivity on Android and related devices,” AST SpaceMobile said in the announcement.
(Credit: AST SpaceMobile)The partnership could help the Android ecosystem counter Apple’s “Emergency SOS” satellite connectivity for iPhones, which lets the user send text messages to emergency services when no cellular connection is nearby.
Texas-based AST SpaceMobile also plans on using the funding to support rolling out the company’s commercial satellite service, which will involve launching five finalized “BlueBird” satellites during this year’s first quarter.
Although Google is investing in AST SpaceMobile, it’s important to point out that the search giant joined Fidelity in investing $1 billion in SpaceX back in 2015. In addition, Google reached a deal with Elon Musk's company to bolster the ground infrastructure for Starlink in 2021.
So far, SpaceX has only announced T-Mobile as a partner on the cellular Starlink system for US consumers. But the company has been calling on other mobile carriers to join the program.
As for AST SpaceMobile, the investment arrives as the company has been working to secure more cash to stay financially afloat. According to the announcement, AT&T has committed to paying AST SpaceMobile another $20 million in revenue “predicated on the launch and successful initial operation of the first 5 commercial satellites."
Even so, the satellite industry analyst Tim Farrar says AST SpaceMobile still needs to secure more financing to build out the rest of its satellite fleet, which will span another 20 satellites. “Do any of these companies want to be on the hook for the billions needed to compete with SpaceX?” he wrote in a tweet. “And what are the prospects for the next funding round when SpaceX will already have hundreds of D2D (direct-to-device) satellites in orbit at that point?”
Indeed, SpaceX told the FCC in November: “We expect to launch and operate approximately 840 direct-to-cell capable satellites over the next 6 months.”