(Credit: AST SpaceMobile)
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Starlink rival AST SpaceMobile appears to be facing a longer-than-expected delay in launching its FM1 prototype satellite, which will provide cellular connectivity to smartphones.
AST SpaceMobile has contracted India’s space agency, ISRO, to launch the FM1. It was originally supposed to happen this month and was later pushed to October/November. But on Thursday, the head of the space agency, V. Narayanan, indicated during a press conference that the satellite won’t fly until Q1 2026.
"Most likely December-January time frame, this [launch] will be executed," Narayanan told local media outlet NDTV.
The FM1 is important because it's the company's first stab at launching a massive satellite that's three times larger than AST’s first-generation BlueBird satellites. The increased size promises to boost the satellite’s capacity by 10 times, enabling it to serve more smartphones on the ground with better speeds.
(Credit: AST SpaceMobile)AST has partnered with AT&T and Verizon to eventually offer satellite connectivity to smartphones, putting it in direct competition with T-Mobile’s cellular Starlink service. AST has said it plans to kick off a “nationwide intermittent service in the United States” by year's end. But the delay at ISRO casts doubt on the company’s timeline, which has faced delays before.
A year ago, the Texas-based company originally sought to launch the first second-generation BlueBirds in Q1 2025. To get the service working, the company needs to launch 45 to 60 satellites to deliver continuous coverage in the US when it currently only has five first-generation BlueBirds in orbit.
"In the case of the US, when we get to around 45 [satellites], you get very close to a service that you can offer. And then as you get to 60, you are in full continuous service," AST CEO Abel Avellan said in a recent earnings call.
AST didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. But in its earnings presentation, the company said it anticipates “at least five orbital launches by [the] end of Q1 2026.” The FM1 is also supposed to ship to India this month.
(Credit: AST SpaceMobile)Avellan also indicated the FM1 wouldn’t hold back the company from launching other BlueBird satellites. “The other satellites are basically at the same few weeks after the FM1. So we are treating them separately. We're not conditioning any of the launches to any specific launch,” he said. This has raised speculation that AST will try to launch a separate second-generation BlueBird, known as the FM2, later this year.
In addition to ISRO, the company has contracted SpaceX and Blue Origin to help it launch the satellites. The plan is to conduct launches “every one to two months on average to reach the goal of 45 to 60 satellites launched during 2025 and 2026,” AST says.