US-licensed satellite to launch on Isro’s LVM-3 rocket next month

The BlueBird 6 satellite, designed for LEO, will launch on December 15 via Isro's LVM-3 rocket, aiming to provide global smartphone connectivity from space.

The US-licensed BlueBird 6 satellite, among the world’s heaviest commercial communications satellite designed for Low Earth Orbit (LEO), is scheduled to launch on Isro’s LVM-3 rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, on December 15, according a statement from telecom company AST SpaceMobile.

ISRO chairperson V Narayanan had said last month that BlueBird 6 satellite would be launched in the second week of December. (DRDO)

Manufactured at AST SpaceMobile’s headquarters in Midland, Texas, the 6,500kg satellite is the first of the firm’s next generation satellites. “Our next-generation satellites will soon enable ubiquitous cellular broadband coverage direct to everyday smartphones from space,” said Abel Avellan, founder, chairman and CEO of AST SpaceMobile in a media statement on Friday.

On October 1, a social media post by AST SpaceMobile said that BlueBird 6 has completed final assembly and testing and is ready for flight. “On October 12, it will head to India aboard an Antonov large cargo plane,” it had said.

When launched, it will feature the largest commercial phased array in LEO at nearly 2,400 square feet –– a 3.5 times increase in size over previous iterations of BlueBirds and supports 10 times the data capacity, according to AST SpaceMobile.

While Isro has yet to make an announcement on the launch, its chairperson V Narayanan had said last month that BlueBird 6 satellite would be launched in the second week of December.