AST SpaceMobile launches BlueBird 11-13 on Falcon 9 for direct-to-cell network
SpaceX launched three new Block 2 BlueBird direct-to-cell satellites for AST SpaceMobile from Cape Canaveral.
what happened
A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched AST SpaceMobile's BlueBird satellites 11, 12, and 13 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on August 5, with liftoff at 3:49 a.m. EDT (0749 UTC), per Spaceflight Now. The Falcon 9 first stage, tail number B1077, flew its 30th mission and landed on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas, the vessel's 162nd landing and the 645th Falcon booster landing overall. The mission follows the BlueBird 8, 9, and 10 launch about a month and a half earlier; per Talk of Titusville, the Block 2 satellites carry roughly 2,400-square-foot phased-array antennas, more than three times the size of the first-generation BlueBirds, offering up to 10 times the bandwidth.
why it matters
Each BlueBird batch narrows AST SpaceMobile's path toward the satellite count it needs for continuous direct-to-cell coverage, a milestone the company has already slipped to early 2027. Steady SpaceX launch cadence for a competitor's constellation keeps SpaceX as the industry's default ride even as AST SpaceMobile explores vertically integrating its own launch capacity.
signal-to-noise
quick facts
- Companies
- AST SpaceMobile, SpaceX
- Category
- constellation
- Impact
- noise
- SNR
- 4 / 5
- Event date
- 2026-08-05
- Published
- 2026-08-05 09:44 UTC