AST schedules three more satellites for August
What happened
AST SpaceMobile announced June 23 (BusinessWire) that BlueBirds 11, 12, and 13 are targeted to launch on a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral in the first half of August. This follows: (a) successful orbital launch of BlueBirds 8, 9, and 10 on June 17 — now 10 next-gen satellites in orbit; (b) FCC commercial authority granted April 22 for nationwide U.S. D2D broadband; (c) AT&T beta D2D satellite service in preparation; (d) peak download of 98.9 Mbps measured to unmodified smartphones from BlueBirds 1–7. Each Block 2 satellite measures ~2,400 sq ft and supports 10 GHz of processing bandwidth, 120 Mbps peak per coverage cell. Partners include AT&T, Verizon, Vodafone, Google, Rakuten, Bell, Telus, stc Group, American Tower — ~60 MNOs, ~3B subscribers combined. The company is targeting continuous U.S. coverage by end of 2026 (45–60 satellites total).
Read-across for SES
The base rate in priors.md was "assume ~2x slip until demonstrated on-orbit performance changes the prior." That prior should now be retired. AST has: FCC commercial authority, real MNO contracts, demonstrated 98.9 Mbps, and a launch cadence of 3 satellites per 5–6 weeks. At ~13 sats by mid-August and 45–60 by year-end, AST approaches meaningful U.S./Europe/Japan/Saudi coverage on the 2 GHz block — the same spectrum that COM(2026) 311 is restructuring for SES's IRIS2 benefit. The threat vector is not IRIS2 directly (AST operates commercial D2D, not govt secure comms), but AST's progress (1) validates that D2D on 2 GHz is commercially real, not theoretical; (2) strengthens SpaceX's ITU-priority legal argument (see T0630Z S2) by showing a competitive market exists for the reserved spectrum; and (3) creates a parallel commercial 2 GHz D2D lane that could absorb enterprise demand SES otherwise serves via GEO. The 2 GHz MSS EXISTENTIAL thread now has a materialising commercial competitor, not just a regulatory fight.
As the brief filed it
AST SpaceMobile announces BlueBirds 11, 12, 13 for first half of August (June 23) — 10 sats in orbit, FCC commercial authority granted, D2D cadence is falsifying the "2x slip" base rate; 2 GHz block competitor is becoming operational faster than modelled.