Jeff Bezos' rocket company Blue Origin has signed a multi-launch deal with satellite communication company AST Spacemobile to deploy the company's direct-to-cellular satellites "over a multi-year period" using Blue's New Glenn rocket, the companies announced Thursday.
AST in a statement said the Blue Origin launches, as well as others using "existing launch vehicles" that it did not identify, satisfies the launch capacity needed to "enable continuous space-based cellular broadband service coverage across some of the most in-demand cellular markets globally."
AST's launch campaign will be in 2025 and 2026 and involve the deployment of roughly 60 next-generation Block 2 BlueBird satellites. Blue Origin said New Glenn will launch "multiple" such satellites but did not say how many missions are involved.
