SpaceX tackles one of most complex missions yet
Photo Credit: AST Space Mobile
SpaceX is targeting Saturday, September 10 for a Falcon 9 launch of 34 Starlink satellites and AST SpaceMobile’s BlueWalker 3 satellite to low-Earth orbit from LC-39A in Florida. $ASTS, AST SpaceMobile anticipates launching the BlueWalker 3 (BW3) test satellite, to kick off testing with mobile network operators on six continents, including North America.
One of our most complex missions
Elon Musk
Elon Musk says this is one of the most complex missions for SpaceX because it’s a combined payload of Starlink and BlueWalker 3 satellite. SpaceX will send the 34 table-sized Starlink satellites and the monster BlueWalker into low Earth orbit.
BlueWalker 3 will break satellite size records
At 693 square feet, the phased array on BlueWalker 3 will be the largest commercial communications array ever deployed to low Earth orbit. This large array of antennas is designed to connect directly to existing mobile phones from a much longer distance than traditional cell towers. The picture below shows how large just one satellite really is. Unfurled, the satellite will be 26 feet on each side. It might even be visible to the naked eye. Bluewalker will need to be put into orbit at 28,000mph, and will unfurl with the energy stored in the hinges of the array.
Watch the Mission here:
“The start of the BlueWalker 3 mission is a major step forward to provide space-based cellular broadband,” said Abel Avellan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AST SpaceMobile. “With agreements and understandings from mobile network operators who collectively provide service to over 1.8 billion subscribers around the globe, the BW3 mission bolsters our mutual commitment to connect the unconnected.”
To find out more about $ASTS, please view the press release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220908005651/en/
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