The groundbreaking launch started at 4:52 a.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The event was witnessed by partners and retail shareholders from around the globe who had gathered to be a part of this historic milestone.

These large arrays of antennas are designed to reach standard smartphones directly at cellular broadband speeds for voice, data and video and other non-communications government applications. After launch, the BlueBird satellites are planned to offer non-continuous cellular broadband service across the United States and in select markets globally.

The BlueBird satellites' beams are designed to support a capacity of up to 40 MHz, enabling peak data transmission speeds of up to 120 Mbps. and will target approximately 100% nationwide coverage from space with over 5,600 coverage cells in the United States.

"This is an exciting next step to a future where our customers will only be hard to reach if they choose to be - giving them the power to go anywhere and the possibility to do anything while staying connected with just an everyday cell phone," said Jeff McElfresh, Chief Operating Officer, AT&T. "This moment has been several years in the making, and I am proud of our teams' work, in collaboration with AST SpaceMobile, to help make space-based connectivity a reality."

"This launch from Kennedy Space Center marks the next step in our shared mission of democratizing telecommunications," said Mickey Mikitani, Rakuten Group Chairman and CEO. "Mobile connectivity is a necessity no matter where you are. We are proud to be working with a trailblazer like AST SpaceMobile to create a more connected world."

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