AST SpaceMobile promises the Moon with seamless satellite phone service AST SpaceMobile has reiterated its plans to enable a satellite phone service covering the entire continental US that will work seamlessly with existing devices, thanks to spectrum sharing agreements with AT&T and Verizon. The satellite operator inked deals with the two US telecoms giants in May that will eventually allow them …
> AST's satellites are designed to have a huge antenna, which makes it capable of putting down a small spot beam
Well, that is nice for all their customers, but considering the joy (/s) expressed in the coverage for AST's BlueWalker 3 satellite[1] not sure that everyone is going to be impressed. Especially as this system requires collaboration with terrestrial partners just to free up the radio band, so all well and good for
> 100 percent geographical coverage throughout the continental US
but a long middle finger for anyone else in the World[2] who might look skywards.
[1] Giant satellite outshines stars, sparking fresh concerns for astronomers; at least SpaceX have talked about reducing glare from their birds.
[2] "the World" - don't be daft, if you go West from California or East from New York you fall straight off the edge!
When Bluewalker is unfurled, IIRC it's about the size of a football (soccer) pitch. That's quite some increase of area even relative to the direct to cell Starlink birds! Reflection management will be interesting as it's the array itself which is likely to reflect rather than the solar panels, but I'm guessing only when the sun is very low on the horizon (ie: underneath the sat in relation to the earth).
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