has again completed a world first, the BlueWalker 3 low Earth orbit satellite communicated with everyday smartphones reaching initial download speeds above 10 Mbps during Hawaii testing.
AST engineers conducted download speed tests in Hawaii using multiple everyday, off-the-shelf smartphones. The 4G LTE download speed testing, which used AT&T spectrum and Nokia RAN technology, reached initial speeds up to 10.3 Mbps, with further testing of voice calls to AT&T employees. Evaluation of BlueWalker 3’s capabilities continues, with the enablement of 5G cellular broadband as the next major test activity.
“AST SpaceMobile’s space-based cellular capabilities are designed to be a critical extension for cellular communications. In addition to supporting basic voice and text that we expect from phones, it would also enable users to browse the internet, download files, use messaging apps or stream video,” said Abel Avellan, Chairman and CEO of AST SpaceMobile.
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