AST SpaceMobile, Inc. is a satellite communications company building a space-based cellular broadband network designed to connect directly to standard, unmodified smartphones. Headquartered in Midland, Texas, the company designs and manufactures its own low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, known as BlueBirds, which feature massive phased-array antennas. Rather than selling directly to consumers, AST SpaceMobile operates a wholesale business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) model. It partners with major mobile network operators (MNOs)—including AT&T, Verizon, Vodafone, and Rakuten—to integrate satellite connectivity into their existing networks using their terrestrial spectrum. This approach allows carriers to eliminate cellular dead zones and provide 4G and 5G broadband coverage globally without requiring users to purchase specialized hardware.
